The Last Dance
by IronRaven
Summary: It is Hereafter told with a twist. Sometimes those who have lost the least take the hardest losses, and those who have lost everything find something in return. PG for violence, possibly a tiny bit of suggestion in later chpters, but nothing harder than c
1. Seeing

The Last Dance   
by IronRaven 

Disclaimer: Batman, Wonder Woman, The Justice League, Teen Titans, and related entities, characters and concepts are the property of DC Comics. This continuum was developed by Bruce Timm. 

A slightly different result to the start of Here After. 

--- 

Superman's vision tunneled around the sight of the oversized head before him, his hand holding Toyman's shirt tightly, shaking the misshapen psychotic like a rag doll. The thin, child-like screams and pleas of pain and fear couldn't cut through the vision of Batman and Wonder Woman, Bruce and Diana, disintegrating. Kal'el could hear the inner echo of his own scream as he felt his hair stand on end from the ionized air left in the wake of the green energy blast. 

An inhumanly strong, green hand grabbed Superman's wrist, the fingers digging into his tendons, slowly forcing the hand open. J'onn's voice cut the haze, loud both inside and outside Superman's head as the midget criminal fell to the ground. "Enough, that is enough." 

_I could have saved them._ "No, it isn't." 

"They would not have wanted you to do this, to abandon your principles like this for them." 

Kal'el looked down, at the unconscious body sprawled at his feet. From under the cracked, chipped mask, a thin line of crimson flowed, while one arm bent unnaturally between shoulder and elbow. Looking at his hands, they were unmarked by blood, pure to the eye. His world spun as he looked around, just in time to see Kalibek fall from a powermace to the back of the head. 

Stumbling, the Man of Steel moved to were he had last seen his teammates, the others gathering with him. Batman had been digging Wonder Woman free from the debris, when Toyman selected them. It had be a taunt, a goad to lure him into a position to be killed. He should have been able to make it in time. A tenth of a second, not even that much time, was all that separated their deaths from his. Where they had been, a sphere had been bitten from the world, its edges smooth and melted. 

Nothing. Not a strand of hair, not a scrap of fabric. There was nothing left of his friends. 

--- 

Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, opened her eyes, breaking her meditation. Then her eyes opened wider as the Flame of Hera, which had burned for thousands of years, shrank to little more than a candle flicker. In the distance, the horses in the pasture screamed in terror, while it seemed as if every bird on Thermascera cried out in panic. 

"Diana...." 

Outside, several of subjects called for her, running to the temple. But their Queen could not hear them. She could only remember the weight of her infant Little Sun and Stars in her arms, so many years ago. A weight they would never again feel. 

--- 

Numbly, Alfred Pennyworth turned off the television. For many long minutes, he stared in silence at, or rather through, the wall. 

It was bound to happen at some point. Master Bruce had only been human. He may have been in the top one-tenth of one percent of human intellect and physical fitness, but he was only one mortal man, with one life to live. Or to loose. 

Slowly, Alfred levered himself to his feet, feeling everyone one of his years. Yes, it had been anticipated. Walking painfully down the hall, to the study, Alfred opened a hidden safe. From within, his hand drew out a thick, red envelope. Opening it, he looked at the first page, a list of names. The list of those to attend the private portion of the Last Will and Testament of Bruce Wayne. Lifting the telephone, he stared at it for a moment, as if it were an alien device, before starting to dial. 

--- 

**Author's notes:**   
The great unbreakable one fails. The shadow and the innocent are lost. The world mourns, truths are concealed. And life goes on, but not as clearly as before. 

Look for the next chapter in a week or so. 


	2. Passing

The Last Dance   
by IronRaven   
edited by Sabbie-chan (bows, begs forgiveness for first posting before she was done) 

Disclaimer: Batman, Wonder Woman, The Justice League, Teen Titans, and related entities, characters and concepts are the property of DC Comics. This continuum was developed by Bruce Timm. 

A slightly different result to the start of Here After. 

--- 

John Stewart, the Green Lantern, sat alone in the blackened observation lounge, staring out at the stars. It wasn't the first time he had lost comrades. Friends. Brother Marines, a few in the "blodless" invasion of Panama, others in the desert hells of Middle East and Somalia, and too many in simple training accidents. Fellow Lanterns, in the battle with Despero, some by Sinestro's treachery. Even just going home; he had been away for so long, most of the people he knew growing up as pillars of the community had finally crumbled. 

But there was always something left. A body, a smear of blood, a piece of torn flesh, even just a last scream of pain or defiance. This time, nothing. It was almost as if they hadn't ever been there. 

Some time after watching North America pass below for a third time, John's eyes twitched to a reflection of movement in the glass. The reflection's wings drooped in sadness as Shayera crossed to stand at the back of the bench. "Superman is sleeping; J'onn had to sedate him pretty heavily." 

"He's never had to loose anyone before." Shaking his head, John looked down at the ring perched on his finger, thinking of the Toyman who lay in critical condition in Metropolis General. "I couldn't have stopped." 

"I wouldn't have." Watching her friend silently, Shayera's hand moved closer, to a point where her fingertips could reach out and touch his shoulder. "Do you mind if I sit with you for a while? I don't want to be alone." 

For a time, they stayed like that, motionless as their vantage point roamed the sky of their world, a world alien to one by birth and the other by duty. Just the slightest, lightest touch, and the greatest comfort. Wordlessly, Shay moved to join him on the bench, both of them taking the same posture as they shifted their elbows to their knees, each cradling their chins on their fists. Eventually, John spoke up, "It isn't right." 

"It never is the right place, or the right time. Or the right person." 

"No, it isn't. To many things not done, not said..." As he spoke, they glanced at each other at the same time. Hoping the other wouldn't notice, until their eyes touched, then they both snapped their vision out, unknowingly at the same star. John felt a flash of disgust at what had just been going through his mind. It was a time to mourn, to remember, not to think about.... "Shayera, I-" 

"Shh, not now." 

--- 

Alfred pulled the blinds over the study windows as Tim closed the door. The security system was already active, there would be no intruders or eavesdroppers. 

The youngest member of the family had said he needed some time to apologize. It had been several years since he had been captured by the Joker, and in the aftermath of his rescue, he had been asked and then ordered to stop being Robin. When he ran, Tim hadn't looked back. Other than an occasional news article, he had been missing for some time, long enough that Bruce had finally taken Alfred's council and stopped looking for him. Then, in the aftermath of the alien invasion that had spawned the Justice League, another team was born in Jump City. From an abandoned Wayne Aerospace facility, the Titans rose. Following his student's activities filled Bruce with pride, but the two could never relent enough to make amends. Knowing that the words would never be heard, Tim Drake sat forlorn, staring sightlessly at the big chair that would forever be empty behind the desk. 

Dick Greyson held Barbara, who held held back her tears until she reached the Manor. Alfred's summons were too slow, for Dick had seen the same news. When Batman was killed, he knew what was to come, and had immediately left Bludhaven for the Manor. He had argued with his mentor, successfully striking off on his own when he cast off the role of Robin. But Batman and Nightwing had patched their differences years ago, with two frequently assisting each other, even if they didn't always agree. Dick knew that it was bound to happen, they all did, but he seemed to be taking it the best. 

Barbara had not allowed anything out, acting as surprised as her father when Alfred had called them, requesting their presence at Wayne Manor on a matter of extreme urgency. When the redhead came through the front door, she saw her on-again-off-again lover, and Alfred, and the television images became too real to describe. The grief had hit her like a physical blow, and wracked the young woman's body painfully as Dick's arms wrapped around her. She wanted to be a Bat, so badly she risked her own life as an untrained amateur. She was the only person who had ever really forced Bruce to do anything, but he really didn't have a choice. If he didn't train her, she would have been killed. After nearly an hour of sobbing, she was able to function again. 

The other person in the room was her adopted father, Jim Gordon. Seeing his daughter's reaction when they reached the Manor started to put the pieces together. The "Wayne Murders" had been his first major case as a young man newly promoted to the rank of detective. Over a decade later, as precinct chief, criminals started telling tales of a giant, bat-like monster that had left them tied up, stuffed in car trunks, or out cold in garbage piles. When he became Commissioner, the Batman paid him a visit. Over the years, they had come to rely on each other, even a kind of friendship. During the day, Bruce Wayne was a proud supporter of the Gotham Police, and the two had occasionally talked at various city functions, with Jim never believing the vapid playboy image. Right now, he wasn't sure what bothered him more: that his friend, Batman, never told him his true identity, or that his daughter hadn't told him about her second life. 

Alfred cleared his throat, just above a whisper. "Thank you for coming tonight, on such short notice. I think that Master Bruce would have been happy to see all of your here." With that introduction, Alfred swung the panels back to bare the television and tapped two buttons. 

The screen came to life with a soft snap-pop, as the player hummed softly. From the glass panel, a barefaced Batman looked out. "I, Bruce Wayne, being of sound mind and body, do hereby command and bequeath: 

"This secret, private portion of my will is to be read in the event of my death. However, if Batman should die in a manner that allows the secret to be maintained, only this portion is to be read. The rest will have to wait seven years, to allow Bruce Wayne to disappear and be certified as dead. I leave to all of you to develop a cover story for Bruce Wayne's disappearance. 

"Alfred Pennyworth, my greatest friend, my oldest ally, my mentor. For my entire life, you have been my council, and my protection, acting for Bruce Wayne when Batman was on the prowl. You will find in my bedroom, behind the Matisse, papers extending your powers as my major-domo to allow you to carry out my disappearance. You may remain at Wayne Manor for the rest of your days, or any of the other properties, as you wish. I also gift you with the contents of the Bahaman banks accounts that are listed with your name in the appropriate documents, along with ten percent of my holdings in Wayne Industries and it's independent subsidiaries. Thank you, Sir. 

"Jim Gordon, you have helped me more than you probably know. By now, you will have learned that Bruce Wayne and Batman were the same person; I've often wondered how long you've known." Sitting in his chair, Commissioner Gordon glanced at his watch to answer the question himself, as the recording continued, "Everything that makes Batman a hero, rather than a common vigilante, is your doing. You've sheltered me, and my students. I could not repay my debt in life, but I can now. I know you can make good use of my files on open cases, and even some closed ones. When you can no longer use them, retire, my friend, you've earned it. The Bent L Ranch is yours now; almost fifteen square miles of Montana grassland and a few thousand head of cattle. Consider it a hobby for your final years. 

"Barbara, I don't remember asking you for your help. But thank you for not letting me push you away. You saved us all too many times to count, made a valuable member of the team. I find myself thinking of you as my niece, more and more each day." Where she sat, still pressed against Dick, Barbara bit her lip, trying not cry again as she heard the words. "I ask you to give up the life in the shadows, and follow your father's path. Please, Barbara. To help you, I leave my law and philosophy libraries, along with the Cayman Island accounts specified on Alfred's list. Those should cover admission to any law school in the North America or Europe. Or all of them. I also leave you with the rights to the patents from Balance Software- it is the company that designed the computer programs we use in our work, along with the condos at Vail and Killington. Look after my boys. 

"Tim Drake, your leaving nearly made me forget our duty, but I see I have trained you well enough that you never forgot it. You were my best student. I would ask one thing of you: give up the title of Robin. That is the name of a student, a child, and you are no longer either of those. Keep the bad guys guessing, maybe you can convince your brother to let you have his old name. I want you and Dick to share the equipment caches and hidden workshops. I hope you can find a use for the even numbered accounts with Micheloud & Cie of Switzerland, along with 25% of the my shares of Wayne Enterprises. You shall need to stop living as you are, however, stop squatting. For this, I leave you the villa in the Catskills, the penthouses in London and Tokyo, and the facility at Gull Island. You and the Titans have made it a home, rather than an abandoned R&D facility." Smiling, the image of Bruce shifted its head, somehow knowing were Tim would sit, boring into his eyes. "Fight the darkness within as much as the darkness without, my son." 

"Finally, but not least, Dick Greyson: I call you son also. Your adoption papers, and Tim's, are in the package of legal papers behind the Matisse. You have become my ally, and the mirror that shows my mistakes. Yes, I made them, you taught me that. The Batcave and Wayne Manor are yours, along with the houses in Miami and Martha's Vineyard, along with the penthouse in Metropolis. With these properties, you will also have control of the odd numbered Swiss accounts, and 45% of my Wayne Enterprises stock- you have the single largest vote in a corporation more powerful than most nations, be careful with it. To assist you in what I am about to ask, I suggest that you request Alfred's continued companionship. The task I ask of you is heavy in deed. I want you to take over for me, I want you to become Batman in appearance and duty. As I said to Tim, keep the bad guys guessing. And if you take my other name, I wouldn't be insulted. 

"These bequeaths and burdens are to be implemented immediately, with the remainder of my will to be implemented as soon as Bruce Wayne is legally dead. Avenge me with justice, not with barbarism." 

--- 

Hawkgirl set the Javelin down gently on the northern shore, just above the high tide line. She had flown low over the island, and slow, to make sure someone saw and heard her. As the only female member of the League now, it had fallen on her to deliver the news to Diana's people. 

In the co-pilot's seat sat a pitifully small collection of trinkets. A diary; at least that was the assumption, it was in a language Hawkgirl didn't recognize. A few tiny, authentic Amazon pieces of art work that had somehow managed to leave the island. A worn leather jacket sent to her by a mysterious "old friend", like the ones from World War Two. A presentation box with a pair of Kasnian coins, one showing her image. That was all that there was to show that Wonder Woman, Diana, Princess of the Amazons, had been a part of the world. 

As she stood, Hawkgirl flipped the switch that lowered the ramp. Cradling Diana's possessions in her arm, Shayera moved to sit at the bottom of the ramp to wait. Watching the gulls wheel and dive at the waves, she found herself both alone and undistracted for the first time since the fight. She had mourned Grundy. Yes, he had been a villain, but he was looking for something that she couldn't describe. And in the end, he became an ally. Wonder Woman had been an ally, and a team mate, for as long as Hawgirl had known her. When they had first met, Hawkgirl didn't think that the haughty Amazon would ever fit in, and even disliked her. But, in a way, they had almost became friends. 

The whinny of an approaching horse brought Hawgirl back to what she was supposed to be doing. She rose gracefully to her feet as the horse left the tree line. "Hail and greeting, Hawkgirl." 

"Hail, Queen Hippolyta." Swallowing, Hawkgirl glanced down at the coin that sat on the top of the pile in her arm. It commemorated rescue of the world, half of them stamped with Wonder Woman's likeness, the other half with Batman's. "I wish I could greet you kindly, Your Majesty, but I-" 

"I know, the Gods told me of her passing." The Queen of the Amazons tightened the grip on her reigns, her nails biting into her palms. "Did she die in battle?" 

The feelings of loss and rage at the moment her... teammates disappeared, vaporized, flushed through Hawkgirl for a moment, before she could find her voice. "Yes. She and Batman were killed." Knowing inside that what she was saying could bring no comfort, Shayera couldn't stop her lips from moving. "They felt no pain." 

Hippolyta scanned the small items in Hawkgirl's arms, looking for the distinctive red, blue and gold costume her daughter had worn the last time she had been on the island. The time her heroism was rewarded with banishment. "Did you bring her body?" 

"No; her body was destroyed in the blast. These are her personal effects, we felt they should come home." Seeing the lines etch deeper into the immortal woman's face, Shayera's body tightened slightly. "I'm sorry. I hope it comforts you to know that she died protecting innocent people." 

With a short, pained nod, the queen closed her eyes. Without opening them, she tugged the reins of her horse around, letting her mount find the way back home. "There will be a ceremony tonight, I hope you will stay." 

Without a word, Hawkgirl flexed her wings, letting the sea wind catch in her feathers, and wordlessly followed. 

As evening fell, all of the Amazon's had gathered in the area around the temple. Hawkgirl had told the story of the battle with Toyman, Metallo and the others many times. In exchange, she learned much of young Diana. She also noticed everyone seemed to glance nervously at a tiny flame that lay burning at one of the shrines. Based on the marks on the floor, Hawkgirl figured it was normally larger. As the last light touched Thermascera, they all gathered around a large stack of wood and kindling, laced with olive oil and herbs. 

Hippolyta lit a torch from one of the braziers, lifting it high. "Diana, our Princess, the only Amazon not formed by god and goddess, has fallen." With firm, slow steps, the Queen approached what Hawkgirl realised should have been a pyre. Ceremonially, Her Majesty lowered the torch to the pile, letting it lap at the oil. As it lit, the flames bred through the wood. "She was my life." 

Each of the Amazons spoke in turn, each saying something small about Diana. Just a word or two, maybe a sentence, summing up their strongest connection to their Princess. Teacher. Healer. Student. Work partner. Servant. When the last of the warrior women spoke, all eyes turned to Shayera. Unsteadily, she stared into the flames, knowing they would soon pass to embers, knowing she had to speak before then. Then her heart spoke. "Diana, she was my friend." 

--- 

**Author's notes:**   
Ok, first the icky stuff. I went a long time without picking up comics, and it was Bruce Timm's continuum in the animated series that brought me back the DC universe. As a result, I use the storyline he developed- ie, no Oracle. 

In the Gold Age, Wonder Woman was created by the gods from clay. I hate that story, it dates back to when she made coffee and took short hand at the Justice League meetings, rather than being the ass kicking Amazon we know today. I know, it fit the old tales about the Amazons, but I still think it sucks. I see something implied in the JL:TAS storyline, I might be alone, I don't know. Hippolyta loved Hades, once. Maybe Diana is the result. If she is, I doubt she would have been told. 

I know that the Last Will and Testament of Batman was a big part of this. It wasn't done accidentally. Batman was Batman because of good schooling, training, lots of gizmos, and a disgustingly large amount of money. Diana was who she was because of who she was because of her birthright and a gift from a goddess. (Think about it, no one came looking for the holy bustier that was no longer in the temple, so Hera probably gave it as a gift, maybe Athena.) Diana's life was simple, and became complicated with the League; Bruce's life was complicated and stayed that way. 

Parts of Batman's will help to iron out bits of the later points in Timm's timeline that I find messy. Like Commissioner Barbara Gordon telling Terry that she had once had an affair with Bruce. Ok, that's just icky to me. This makes it a little bit easier to deal with. It also nicely cancels out the argument in the _Teen Titans_ storyline about which Robin it is, and which Nightwing Starfire met in the future. 


	3. Changing

The Last Dance   
by IronRaven   
edited by no one (sorry if I missed something) 

Disclaimer: Batman, Wonder Woman, The Justice League, Teen Titans and related entities, characters and concepts are the property of DC Comics. This continuum was developed by Bruce Timm. The title and image of the '57 Bel-Air and the Metro are both property of General Motors' Chevrolet division. 

A slightly different result to the start of Hereafter. 

Becuase of how much this chapter jumps around in place, I'm going to be putting locator tags in each of my seperators (---). 

--- _Batcave_

In the Batcave, Tim sat on the edge of the chasm, his legs dangling, as he looked down. He hadn't been home in almost two years, not since before the Martian Invasion. Now he knew why Bruce had asked what he did, years ago. And Tim knew why he couldn't walk away from this life. Bruce always taught by example. Where there is life, there is hope. Tim was alive. 

"Is this a private cliff, or can anyone jump?" 

I'm not going to jump, Barbara, you don't need to worry." Looking over his shoulder, the redheaded woman's face was hidden in the shadows, but not enough to hide her concern. "Really. I just wish I hadn't been so stubborn." 

Sitting tiredly next to her former teammate, Barb shook her head. "If you hadn't been stubborn, he never would have trained you. You know he looked for you right up until the walkers landed, and even then he told Dick and I to keep looking for you." 

"I know. The Titans weren't founded to show I was just as good as he was, really. It was the most public way I could think of to get him to stop looking for me." With a flick of his finger, he sent a pebble bouncing down into the deepest shadows, clicking and clattering to the bottom none of them had ever explored. "He needed one less thing to worry about." 

"Bruce, stop worrying about something?" The two looked at each other, and snorted, knowing just how unlikely it would have been for the Bat to ever stop worrying about everything. 

--- _elsewhere_

Batman became aware of the light stabbing through his eyelids about the same time the little person with the bass drum started banging it inside his head. He was acutely aware of feeling like every muscle in his body had been stripped off and then remounted upside down as he flinched at the brightness. A faint wind ran over him, feeding him a mix of scents, one of them familiar. 

"Hello." 

_And I thought nothing felt worse than a boom tube._ Turning a grunt of pain into words, Batman sat up before he opened his eyes. The way his stomach felt, doing it in the opposite order would be a bad idea. "Where are we." 

"It isn't Earth." Diana stood from the piece of rubble she had been using as a stool, offering her hand to her comrade. She was slightly surprised when he accepted it, using it to pull himself to his feet. His eyes narrowed behind his mask as he looked about, taking in the ringed moon and the red sun. 

"Any signs of the others?" Glancing about, he saw several of the cars that had been blasted by Toyman's weapon. _At least that solved the question of how we got here._

"None, but there is a beacon on the comm. It is very faint, I'm not sure if they can heard me." 

Pressing his hand to his ear, Batman triggered his comm, listening. After a second, he turned it off, frowning under his mask. "We should conserve battery power. It might be a while before they can do anything but send a beacon, we were the first ones hit." He glanced at her briefly. "You are cold." 

"I _am_ cold, and I can't fly." Diana looked down, her confidence shaken. "Where ever we are, Hera doesn't know I'm here." 

"Then we just need to let her know where you are." He spoke gently, as he removed his cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders. Without further explanation Batman turned towards the news stand. Bernie's News, it was a place that Bruce Wayne had purchased newspapers before. That part of his mind felt sorry for the hard working, humorous little man. 

--- _Watchtower_

"Javelin, I have you on visual. I confirm your IFF and one passenger. Opening docking bay three." Green Lantern reached out to throw the switch on the watch station panel. He didn't need to, the station could take care of itself, but his military experience made him prefer human oversight. With all things considered, the higher degree of security felt good right now, to everyone. "Welcome back, Hawkgirl." 

GL turned back to the display on his tablet. He and J'onn had become the defacto leaders of the Justice League, at least in the eyes of the world below. Officially, Superman was with the dead's families, comforting them. In reality, he was barely starting to stir from the sedatives that J'onn had given him after he had nearly killed Toyman. 

While it was well known that the Toyman lay in critical condition, the details were closely guarded. The electromagnetic disruptions caused by the Weather Wizard had blocked the live feeds from the news folks. Their tapes had been blocked with the help of Louis Lane, who had called in every favor she was owed. Flash had helped there, offering to trade interviews and teases of sensor data from the Javelin in the future for their silence. Between the two angles, it had surprised J'onn- lieing, or at least concealing the truth, just wasn't part of the Martian way. 

Less than two days, the efficiency of it all was almost scary. But state funerals are something that every government had thought of, just like the military did. Probably the same grim, odd little men wrote the scripts for both, he mused. It was going to be held in the shadow of the World Assembly, in the Cathedral of St. Michael. 

John was going over the list of speakers again, somewhat nervously, when the doors behind the watch station hissed open. His ears identified the sound of Shayera's steps easily as he raised his head. "How are the Amazons?" 

"Nervous." Scowling at the stars, she perched delicately on the edge of the instrument panel. "This is probably the last we will see of them. Before Wonder Woman left home, it had been over two thousand years since any of them died, and in less than two years they've had Faust, Aerisa and now this. Her Majesty wishes to attend the funeral, and then I'll return her to Thermyscera." 

--- _elsewhere_

After having methodically searched and ransacked the news stand, Batman had moved on to examining the cars. Totally at a loss to this part of Mansworld, Diana watched in fascination as he checked each machine. "You look like you've done this before, Bruce." 

From under the front end of the compact came a muffled "Don't call me that. Princess." With a sound of disgust, he pushed himself from under the tiny vehicle, before heading off towards the lovingly polished Bel-Air. _Why couldn't he have shot a pickup or something?_

Her hand balling into a fist alongside the leg of the jeans they had found in the compact, Diana stared for a moment. Of all the people she had ever known, Bruce Wayne was the most infuriating. "OK, Batman, you look like you've done this before. And don't call me Princess." 

Pausing to raise an eyebrow under his mask, Batman popped the hood on the classic icon of Detroit Steel. "Unless I find something wrong with this, it makes the most sense. The Metro might get better mileage, but it doesn't have the mass. All the fuel economy in the world won't matter if we get hung up." 

"Let me guess, you always wanted one." Letting her anger slip back a bit, Diana rested her hands on the fender, smiling gently. "I've seen pictures of this car, one night GL and Flash was explaining to J'onn about 'muscle cars'." 

"No, I rebuilt one when I was 16. By myself. I know it as well as the men who designed it." Reaching into his belt, Batman flicked his Leatherman open one handed. "You are in my light." 

--- _Watchtower_

"They have a monument already? Is it something Luthor commissioned?" Eyes slited in anger, Hawkgirl wanted to smash something. It had to be a bad joke. A fitting monument for her comrades would take longer than they had had. It would either be something some sicko had made, or a piece of trash thrown together in a few hours. 

"Whoa, easy there." Green Lantern backed up a little, instinctively, having seen the winged woman this angry before and knowing that a mace could quickly become involved. "It is a gift from Kasnia. It was going to commemorate those who died in Savage's plot. The two of them, standing on a broken stone wall, watching the sky, with the names of those who didn't make it out of the castle engraved on the stones, along with the sailors in the carrier group. The artist hadn't starting put the names on yet." 

"Oh." She knew how much the Kasnian's respected the League, and Wonder Woman and Batman especially. It wasn't just that they had saved their queen and freed their country from the brief hold the immortal madman. Batman had made several rather well publicized takedowns of Kasnian terrorists, in North America and Europe, protecting the proud nation's honor. And Wonder Woman had made rebuilding that nation her hobby, spending many of her off days there, and not just because of her friendship with Queen Audrey. "I saw the news on my way up. Is it true they are calling on the World Assembly to try Toyman and the others for crimes against humanity?" 

"And they aren't kidding. They are offering to put them into the same hole they are hiding Savage in." 

Any further discussion was broken by a tiny beep on their comms, followed by Flash's voice. "Hey, guys, Supes is waking up. J'onn, you might want to get down here." 

--- _elsewhere_

Cans and bottles of gasoline and several bottles of oil, drained from the other cars. A spare car battery, with jumper cables. The jacks from the other cars. Some light line, not heavy enough to be rope but more than twine. All the water they had found, not enough by half. A few dozen of those horrible things Flash had made ads for, along with some other candies, and a little beef jerky. A small tool kit. Thirteen road flares and several cigarette lighters. Two flashlights with two spare sets of batteries, even if they had questionable charge. The fabric carefully pulled from the interiors of the sacrificed cars, along with several slats and rods from the security shutter from the news stand. Assorted sundries. It was enough to make Diana shake her head. 

"What?" Brushing the dust from his uniform, Batman looked over the salvage, silently debating if it was worth trying to salvage the wire in the newstand. 

Looking up at the bright moons, Diana rubbed her arms under the cape for warmth. She had looked into lighting a fire, but there wasn't enough wood to keep a fire going more than an hour, and the newsstand's paper would have been scattered by the wind in minutes. "I've never seen someone ransack something this thoroughly. Are you sure you weren't a Spartan once?" 

Ignoring the comment, Batman raised his hand to his ear, adjusting his comm. "This is Batman and Wonder Woman. We have a fix on your direction and will move towards you at first light." He repeated that four more times, listening between each time, before shutting down his earpiece. He stretched without seeming to move, straining his muscles against each other. "Get some rest. It will be warmer in the car." 

"What about you?" 

"I'll be fine." Reaching into a pouch on his belt, back near his spine, Batman removed a small mylar covered block. Taking the seam in his hands, he pulled in opposite directions to reveal a pair of small greenish-grey blocks. He held one out to his companion. 

"What is it?" Looking over the object, Diana turned it over in her fingers, surprised that something so solid looking would be putty-like. 

"24K Ration." His face became mask like as he bit into it, chewing quickly, not breathing until he had swallowed. "Each block has twenty four hundred calories, and enough electrolytes, iron and amino acids for a day." 

Reassured not in the least bit by Batman's facial expression as he choked down the last of his portion, Diana soon discovered that it was best not to breath as she ate it. _For emergencies only._

The vile taste and the long day made her incautious. "You have everything in there but the kitchen sink." Diana had learned the expression from Superman. 

Looking away from her, Batman's voice was as even and low as ever. "Wait until the next model. I'll wake you in a few hours for your watch." 

--- _Central City_

John Stewart wiped the condensation from the mirror, making sure he hadn't missed a spot. He had slowly shaved when he got back from having his hair trimmed, before showering. The drop from the Watchtower had been quiet. Shayera had asked for a ride down, Flash was going to go down with the Javelin. She left him up at 10,000 feet and had glided off towards the mountains. She had turned her comm off, he hadn't asked where she was going. 

Trying to keep his mind off the winged woman, he inspected himself like a boot fresh to the Corps. Not under Kat'ma's eye in the Lantern Corps, but under Gunnery Sargent Iverson's at Paris Island. Former Embassy and Recon Marine, Gunny had expected everything to be perfect, and no boot was brave or stupid enough to willfully disappoint the hard edged man. For this event, even Gunny's standards were just barely good enough. Once he was satisfied, John slipped his ring on his finger, his eyes closing slightly as the energy surged through him. Breathing in, he summoned his uniform, knowing that it would be perfect, unmarked, energy and thought given form. Feeling the slightly unfamiliar weight of the long coat over his shoulders, John shrugged and flexed to let it sit properly. 

Stepping onto the small balcony off the bedroom and overlooking the alley, John breathed in, smelling the city, listening to it. This is what he swore to defend, as a Marine, as a Green Lantern, and as a member of the Justice League. This is what they had died to protect. Warping the energies of the ring around him, he took to the sky. 

--- _atop a small mountain, west of Gotham and Metropolis_

Shayera Hol knelt near the top of a mountain, not feeling the breeze as it ruffled her long, red hair. Her mace and helmet sat on the ground, next to her, as she cradled her face in her hands. Here, alone, she could mourn. She mourned the friend she had never let herself get to know and the ally she never fully let herself trust, each of them so like her. She mourned the home she had not seen in too many years, and no longer thought of every day. She mourned her confidence, her conviction, her lack of doubt. She sobbed until the tears passed, and the pain was replaced. 

She raised her head, looking into the sky that wasn't quite blue enough to her, once, but now she knew it as if she had been born in it. Lowering her eyes, she felt the wind now, feeling it run it's fingers over her hair to comfort her, over her cheeks to wipe all signs of tears from her cheeks. She looked out over the mountains, the forests. In the distance, she could see the healing scar of a decapitated mountain, slowly filling with trees and water in the gouged out mine. The Earth was healing, repairing, slowly, but detectable on the scale of an individual's life. 

A flash of movement caught her eye. She smiled at what she saw, the first flight of a young falcon, prodded by it's parents, then it's sibling. For a moment, she thought she was home again, then she realized that she was just home. Hooking her mace on her belt, and dropping her helmet on her head, Shayera stepped off the drop, her wings spread. 

--- _Watchtower_

Hippolyta's hand rested on the curved plastic of the observation lounge as she watched the world pass below her. It was the first time she had ever left the Island in thousands of years, and now she was above the gods themselves. She watched the Mediterranean roll past, really seeing it's full smallness for the first time. From here, Thermescara would have not even have been a dot, if it was not cloaked by Hera. She had spent the night reading her daughter's diary, recorded in a form of Greek characters that had changed over time on the isolated island. She now understood her daughter a little better, understood the decisions that had resulted in her banishment. It still hurt to remember the choice, but there really hadn't been a choice. 

"Your Majesty, it is time. 

"Thank you, J'onn." Stepping back, Hyppolita examined her ceremonial robes in the reflection. Turning her back on the world below her, she walked in silence with J'onn. She said nothing until they reached the hanger bay. In the cavernous room, the Javelin sat ready. Flash and Superman were already aboard, the former running through a preflight checklist, the full version for a change. Superman was strapped into one of the passenger seats, behind Flash, already asleep. The manila folder containing the eulogy was under his thigh, held down against any kind of oddity in this flight. His face, even with his eyes closed, was lined with stress, aging him dramatically. 

Hippolyta took the seat across from the Kryptonian, her eyes softening. He had done as much as any of Diana's allies to help protect Thermescara. After she fumbled the odd mechanism of the safety belt around her waist, she reached out and laid her hand on his. He and the others almost made her doubt her decision, but it had been made. 

Slipping into the copilot's seat, J'onn looked over his shoulder to make sure The Queen had remembered how to fasten the buckle of the restraint. Satisfied, he turned to assist Flash with the last of the preflight. A chore done every four hours normally, it was something that couldn't always be done immediately before each flight because of how fast situations could change. The luxury of doing a full and proper checklist and flight plan was comforting to them both, the cautious Martian and the Speedster with the still new pilot's certification. 

"Everything looks good to me, J'onn." The man in red glanced over, taking in the nod of agreement that came just before J'onn shut his eyes. Turning back to the controls, he sent the signal to the Watchtower's main computer to pump the air from the landing bay. "Metropolis air traffic control, this is Javelin-7. Have you received our flight plan?" 

The ground based control's voice crackled through the headset as shuttle glided from the bay, the bay door closing behind. "This is Metropolis ATC, Javelin, we confirm your flight plan. You and the fighters will be the only things in the sky." Due to the security requirements, civil aviation up and down the east coast was snarled hopelessly for the day. Most of the world's heads of state would be there, or at least senior members of their administrations. It was too tempting a target to take any risks with. 

Nudging the thrusters, Flash looked over for a fraction of a second at his copilot, before beginning the flight towards Metropolis. It would take only a few minutes, they were going to reenter over Central City and just glide most of the way down. 

--- _Metropolis_

In a penthouse high above the streets of Metropolis, the three youngest of those who would be in attendance were readying themselves. Tim stuck his head out of the sliding glass doors and looked around. "No one." 

The door slid open fully, and the three apprentices of Batman stepped to the edge of the balcony. Dick looked to either side, and raised his arm. Barbara and Tim both nodded, and with a soft hiss, they fired their first grapples into a building further down the street, heading towards the World Assembly. As he fired the next grapple, Tim looked over his shoulder, at Alfred watching them before turning back inside. They could have gotten him into the service, he had every right to be there. But he had declined, saying it made no sense for him to be seen at the funeral, not a servant. The logic was impeccable. 

The logic sucked. 

They swung in silence, their arms taking the familiar strain of their grapples, each different. Once, they would have all used the same equipment, a long time ago. Now, they had each gone their own ways from Batman, even those stayed near him. It had been a long time, since the had made their way through the urban canyons like this. A wave of nostalgia washed over each of them, remembering. Their eyes automatically picked the next anchor point, their arms swinging, firing and retracting their projectiles, thier minds echoing the missing fourth grapple's silence. They landed atop an auxiliary building to the World Assembly just as the Javelin landed on the edge of World Park. Barbara set her hands on their shoulders, speaking softly. "Come on you two, we have to let people know that the 'batclan' is still around." 

With a snort from Tim at the name the media had given them, they anchored their ropes on the safety railing around the roof, and dropped over the edge, out of sight of the dignitaries and press. As they came around the corner of the building, they were immediately surrounded by the media, snapping pictures. Their questions went unanswered. The only defense to the inane, obvious questions was to give the askers a stony silence that would have done Batman proud as the three stepped towards the Cathedral of St. Michael. 

Located less than two hundred meters from the World Assembly building, Metropolis' largest cathedral had become a extension of the council chambers in all but name. It had seen the funerals of statesmen before. Today, two simply designed caskets of burnished bronze sat empty, in place of the dead. The wide stairs leading up to the entrance was crowded with dignitaries, security and more media people. And heroes. Some were people they knew, but most were just faces. Doctor Fate, Aquaman, the reformed demon Etrigan, Green Archer. There had never been a gathering like this. 

General Stone stopped them at the base of the stairs, extending the condolences of the United States armed forces, saying it was a dark day indeed, and that he hoped the three of them would be able continue in "their father's footsteps." How easily people had made the assumption, and had been making it for years, and ironically part of it had become true. But Nightwing, Batgirl and Robin were Batman's children in the eyes of the world. 

Well, not all the world's eyes. A familiar blond head gently slide between the three and the General, hugging each of them. Supergirl spoke quietly, making sure her voice wouldn't carry. "How are you guys holding up?" 

Fighting the urge to slump against her friend, Barbara spoke first. "We are making it. He left behind a lot of loose ends that we will have to wrap up." 

Instinct overtaking mourning, Tim looked the young heroine up and down. Rather than her normal t-shirt and cut offs, she had worn a new costume, modeled more after Superman's. It made her look more mature, and much more dignified. "We heard about the Toyman. How is your cousin dealing with it?" 

It had been easy enough for Barbara to crack the computers at Metropolis General. Early that morning, the half sized villain had suffered a massive stroke. The initial evaluation was that the damage done from the shaking had weakened a vein and either a plaque or small clot had broken through. The doctors believed that the damage would certainly leave him crippled, and possibly mute, if he woke. 

"I don't know. I haven't been able to get close enough to talk with him. I spoke with Flash, he said a lot of nothing, but I can't get near Superman." 

Eyes flicking towards the media, Dick steered them towards the Cathedral entrance, hoping to find an empty corner. "We saw them come in, he looks horrible." 

"It isn't just that, Dick. He hasn't called home since the... incident." Stepping into an empty alcove, Kara Kent looked at the back of Clark's head. "He calls every night, unless he is off planet or something big happening. Aunt Martha and Uncle Jonathan are getting worried. He hasn't been on Earth and not called since the Martian Invasion." 

Hugging her best friend, Barbara's face was a mask of concern. "If you need any help, call me. Any time." 

"Thanks. I should be the one saying that to you three." The young woman the press called the Farmgirl of Tomorrow wiped her eyes. 

"Don't start that, we just got Barb to stop crying." Pulling a packet of Kleenex from a belt pouch, Tim offered it to the young woman, while the other jabbed him in the arm with her elbow. 

Smiling gently, Kara shook her head. "You guys are going to be fine, you know that? It isn't that he's gone, you are acting like he is here still." The dirge that had been torturously dragged from the organ began to taper off. "You three need to get to your seats." With that, she headed towards a group of pews on the left of the cathedral filled with heroes of all stripes, super and simply heroic, from Solovar to Metamorpho to Commissioner Gordon. 

As surviving family members, the three had their spaces reserved in the front center pew, along with Hippolyta. Her Majesty rose, greeting them. They bowed in return, having been briefed by Alfred how to react to royalty. It was one of the few things, oddly enough, that Bruce's training hadn't covered. "Diana held your mentor in the highest esteem. She cared very much for him." 

"Thank you, Your Majesty. He rarely spoke of personal maters, but Batman considered your daughter a close ally. And the closest he came to having friends." Raising her head, Barbara looked at her companions as they took their seats. They had agreed that she would speak for them, given what was known of the Amazons. "They are about to start, may we meet later? We would like to know more about your daughter." 

"It is unlikely. Aquaman has also asked to speak with me, as a fellow child of Olympus, to see what knowledge has been lost. After this ceremony, I shall be returning home, and Thermescayra will be hidden forever." She looked down at her hands, the knuckles white as her nails bit into her flesh slightly. "Mansworld is not yet a place for Amazons, and it's inhabitants are even less welcome now." 

The room broke out again in a snapping of cameras, the reflected flashes drawing every eye towards the front and stopping all conversation. Superman made his way to the podium, placing the thin folder on top of it and adjusting the microphone a little. He looked about, seeming a little lost and nervous, before he began to speak. The room was utterly quiet, waiting for him, but for the sounds of mourning. Others, such as J'onn, whose eyes glowed softly, his back ramrod straight, did so in silence. 

"My fellow citizens of Earth, and friends from other worlds, welcome... 

--- _elsewhere_

Bruce Wayne woke for the second day under the strange sky. But by now, the redness was unnoticeable. What wasn't unnoticeable was the warm form of an Amazon curled next to him under his cloak. Stiffening, he rolled to his feet and looked around, half expecting... something. 

"Hmmnn... Good morning." Stretching, Diana rose from the corner of ruined wall that Batman had chosen to sleep in last night. "I hope you don't mind, your teeth were chattering in your sleep." 

His teeth clenched, Batman bit of each word. "I was fine." 

"You were sleeping on rock, with the wind in your face, in the middle of a high desert. I thought you needed some help." Crossing her arms, Diana pictured the face she knew was under that mask. "What happened to waking me for the next watch? Bruce, I'm not made out of glass, even if my powers are gone for now." 

"We should move out soon." Walking past her, Batman headed for the waiting vehicle. Feeling her eyes on the back of his head, knowing the truth to her words, the stubbornness of his decision last night, Bruce's shoulders slumped. "Thank you." 

--- _Metropolis_

The League and their allies lifted the coffins. The choices of people to bear them to their final resting place appeared casual, but wasn't, none of this was. Wonder Woman's was the first down the great steps of the cathedral, support by her mother, Hawkgirl, Princess Audrey, Batgirl, Supergirl and J'onn J'onz, while Batman was born by Superman, Nightwing, Robin, Commissioner Gordon, Flash and John Stewart. Side-by-side, the were carried the five blocks to Peace Park at the center of Metropolis, the streets lined ten and twenty deep in places with citizens, along with every window. Behind to coffins, the leaders and heroes of the world followed in a grim parade. Dick noticed one face in particular in the crowd, well dressed, a face that filled the young man with a flash of anger. But Selena had loved Bruce, in her own way. Criminal or not, she had a right to be here as well. 

The media coverage had been amazing considering that aircraft were banned, and every rooftop was already claimed by security teams. They few that weren't had people who wouldn't be all that friendly to the people with cameras, forcing the newspeople to perch on the top of their vans or follow in the wake of the procession. The unblinking, incorruptible eye of the camera traced the voyage. 

Stopping before the larger than life marble edifice, the pallbearers lowered the caskets into above ground crypts. Normally, the slabs to seal them would have been placed later by heavy equipment, but not this time. First Batman's, then Wonder Woman's slabs were slid into their places by the heroes of Earth. The two would continue to stand watch for all time, captured in pure white stone. The base of the monument was composed of the likeness of the thick, ancient wall of a stone fortress. Wonder Woman stood regal, her foot on the raised edge of the wall, looking for danger from the East, and towards Thermyscara. Batman's cloak billowed slightly behind him, as he stood tall, his arms crossed, looking towards the West, and out over America. This is how the would forever be remembered. 

Sherya looked up at the statues, admiring them. They were not what she had been afraid of. The work was exceptionally well done, drawing inspiration from both Greeco-Roman and modern styles, as befitting the two it would commemorate. She had to look at them, so she wouldn't have to see the spectacle this had become. She would have continued to look as long as possible, until her head snapped around at the sound of a Martian voice grunting in pain.... 

--- 

"Snapper, this is Jim at the studio. What is happening?" 

"I'm not sure, Jim. It looks like Superman has collapsed. He is surrounded by the members of the Justice League and the other pallbearers, we can't get a good view. As many of you may know, he has been working nonstop since the deaths of Batman and Wonder Woman, with the families and making the arrangements for the ceremony today. Let me get closer, to see what I can find out...." 

--- 

**Author's notes:**   
Although I'm not catholic (far from it), the choice of saints for the cathedral scene was obvious. For those who don't know, according to Judeochristian lore, the Archangel Micheal the head of the asskicking division of heaven. 

The 24K ration is fictional. Products similar, although not as concentrated and more palatable, are produced by a number of firms, with perhaps the most famous being the widely used Mainstay ration. 

If you are landing the Shuttle in Florida, you reenter above Texas. Go North, and a New York/Metropolis glide path has you coming in over the Chicago/Central City area. And from the maps we have seen, Central is definantly in the Chicago area. 

Survivial is easy for the mechanism of the flesh. But the mind within is much less robust, much more easily broken. 


	4. Questioning

The Last Dance  
by IronRaven

My apologies to all. This got stuck behind this thing called the "real world", ick. It has actually just been waiting on a final edit for a month. Sorry, everyone.

Disclaimer: Batman, Wonder Woman, The Justice League, Teen Titans and related entities, characters and concepts are the property of DC Comics. This continuum was developed by Bruce Timm. The title and image of the '57 Bel-Air and the Metro are both property of General Motors' Chevrolet division.

A slightly different result to the start of Hereafter. Last time, we witnessed the funeral of Batman and Wonder Woman, which was dramatically interrupted by the mysterious collapse of Superman.

Because of how much this chapter jumps around in location, I'm going to be putting locator tags in each of my separators (---).

--- Metropolis, the night of the Funeral

Still brushing her hair and dressed in an old pair of sweats, Barbara Gordon stepped out of the bathroom into the muted chaos of the penthouse. It had been a long and tiring day, not to mention frustrating. Between the funeral and Clark's collapse, she had a hard time remembering a worse one, with the possible exception of Tim's recovery.

Green Lantern had gathered J'onn and Superman in a bubble and launched immediately for the Watchtower. Nine hours later, the footage of the emergency takeoff was still on the new channels. Between repeats of Flash's impromptu, stumbling press conference and the talking heads dancing around the subject of the League's readiness, Barb had given up. She was so wiped out she couldn't even remember Hawkgirl and the Queen leaving.

At one end of the living room, through a heavily encrypted link to the cave, Dick was looking for something. He had said he had a hunch. She glanced at his screen as she went past, frowning when she saw windows full of credit card and bank information. At the sliding door, she heard the last bit of Tim's phone call. "I miss you to, Star. I'll be back in a few days, there is something just not right here.... I'll call again tomorrow."

Barb was about to give him grief about being on the phone when she went into _and_ got out of the shower as he stepped through the door, but all three heads snapped about at the sound of something hitting the wall, before the door of the guest room banged open. Visibly containing her anger, Kara Kent stalked into the room. "They won't talk to me! They won't even answer the com signal!"

The others scowled, looking at each other. They had tried to force their way into the Watchtower's communication's system earlier, but it had been blocked by a security system. Barbara had looked at it, but whatever they were using for a pass key seemed to be shifting at psuedo random intervals. She was pretty sure she could break in with the big computer at the cave and a few hours, but not over a remote link. So Kara had been using a tactical frequency that Bruce had set the League up with early on. Apparently, there had been upgrades.

"That sounds a lot more serious than simple exhaustion." Dick closed his laptop. "And I think I know where to get some answers."

--- Elsewhere, Transition 2 days.

"Batman, you haven't' said anything all day."

"There is nothing to say." Bringing the Bel Air to a stop, Batman leaned back, stretching as he shut off the motor. "The tank is nearly empty and we are running out of natural light."

"Isn't it better to cross the desert at night?" Diana opened her door, and stretched her long legs with a grunt. She was hungry, but much more aware of her thirst. Their path had brought them into the start of the foot hills, with snow capped mountains beyond. They would be in the valley's of those peaks tomorrow, or more likely, the next day. Already there were scrubby plants around them.

"In a hot desert, yes. This is more like the Gobi. I'd rather when I have sunlight." Batman breathed out deeply, letting Bruce Wayne look about. He started to gather dead growth from the bushes around them.

Diana joined him, tieing long stalks of grass-like growths into bundles with strands of the same stuff. "So a fire tonight?"

"Most animals are afraid of fire."

--- Metropolis, later that night

"I'm sorry, Sir, but the occupant of room 537 isn't answering his phone." The young lady behind the desk smiled sweetly to soften the news. "He might have stepped out; the funeral service for Wonder Woman and Batman was today, many people are still paying their respects at the memorial."

Dick Greyson shook his head. "Thanks. Does anyone mind if I go up and knock to be sure?" Without waiting for a reply, he turned on his heel and walked with quick, purposeful steps to the elevator. On the fifth floor, he found the door, setting down the bag he had carried before knocking. After waiting a moment, he knocked again. Sighing, he looked around as he slipped the lock pick and tension bar from their hiding place behind his belt buckle, popping the lock as quickly as if he had had the key.

Confirming the room was indeed empty, he set the warm bag on the table, and sat in one of the arm chairs that faced the door. "Irony: waiting for the Fastest Man Alive while dinner gets cold."

--- Elsewhere, also the same night.

Warmed by the fire, Diana had given up the cape, which Batman carefully stretched between the car and several rocks, hoping to catch dew with it. He had done the same with the some of the fabric he had salvaged from the other cars.

Batman glanced at the long spar of light metal that had once been a part of the newsstand's security shutter. Wonder Woman had borrowed his multitool, and was using the file to put a crude point on it. It wasn't much, but it would work.

She blew the flakes from the file, the fire lapping them up greedily, before she looked at him. "You think I'm being foolish, don't you."

"No."

Testing the tip with her thumb, she tried to hold his eyes with hers. "You wouldn't be saying that to humor me, would you?"

A canine howl rose from the hills to greet the rising moon, as he raised a single eyebrow under his cowl. "Not at all."

--- Still the same night, Metropolis.

Wally West stumbled from the elevator, a small backpack over one shoulder. He was glad it hadn't been stolen from the air vent he had stashed it in- he wasn't sure if he had the energy needed to run up the wall to his room if he didn't have his street clothes. He slid his key into the lock, and a stepped into the room.

"Good evening, Wally, I brought dinner. Shut the door."

Flash's pulse went from exhausted to nearly supersonic panic at the voice. Dropping the pack and kicking the door shut, he raised his fists, ready. "Who's there!"

Turning on the lamp, Dick smiled warmly. "It's been too long, Wall. Sit down, the chicken has been getting cold." He opened the bag on the table, flood the room with the rich scent of thirteen secret spices wrapped around fresh, moist chicken. He set a box, along with some biscuits, at the other chair.

"Dick? Little Dee?" Wally felt numb as he sat down, his mind whirling at seeing his old friend from college for the first time in years. The face was harder than it had been, but even that had a familiar cast to it. "What are you doing here?"

Dick unthinkingly pitched his voice to his working one. "We need to talk, and you need to eat."

Flash might not have been the swiftest hero on the planet, but the second voice his friend used was one he had heard earlier that day. The pieces dropped into place. "Oh, wow, you are Nightwing." Taking a bite of the chicken, his stomach threw him a thumbs up, since all it had had today since breakfast was some canapés at the fiasco that should have been a wake. "So Batman figured it out?"

"I don't know. But it was easy enough to find out." Dick added a bottle of electrolyte laced water to the pile before his friend. "I thought I recognized your voice, and you are still using that same horrid cologne. I checked the records of the Wayne Society for Justice. The grant to the Flash had been moved through a couple of bank accounts, into a regular checking account at Central and Keystone Credit Union. Then you checked in here with your debit card." Taking a bite of chicken, he let it sink in for a moment. "It was a matter of checking the card's usage with the Flash's movements. I also put a flag into your records- I think you will find that the calls asking if you were in someplace or if someone had stolen your card will stop."

Wally was quiet for several minutes, looking at the food in front of him, struggling for something to say. "Dick, I'm sorry about what happened to Batman. I was busy with the Weather Wizard, and by the time I looked around, he was gone. There was nothing I could do."

"I'm not looking for someone to blame. I'm looking for answers."

"Like what?" That was when a flash bulb blew up in Wally's brain, illuminating the tangled web before him. "Wait, you are Bruce Wayne's foster son. The various Wayne organizations have helped the League a lot. Batman was Bruce Wayne!"

"He adopted me, but yes."

"Oh, man. Now I really am sorry. I always thought you guys were just his students, I never believed that you were actually his kids. Did he adopt all of you guys? Does Barbara know? I know you two were an... Oh, wow, I really am an idiot. I always thought you two were out partying when you missed the first class of the day. If only Old Man Warznyak knew he had world savers in the class."

"Wally, you are getting off topic. I want to know what is wrong with Superman. Supergirl can't get any answers and I'm waiting for her to put a fist through my wall. I thought about bringing her, but, well, I didn't think that would be a good idea. She's really worried about her cousin, Wall, and we aren't getting any answers. So do his parents."

"Uh.. Dick, you have secrets you need to keep, just like I do. I need to talk to the rest of the League, this is a matter of our..." He thought back through the lectures he'd gotten from John, looking for the right term. "our operational readiness. I think you should know, and Supergirl damn well should, but I can't say on my own. Besides, I haven't been able to get through to them all night. They aren't picking up the phone, so this has to be bad."

Dick stood, is back cracking loudly. "OK. Reach us like you would have called Batman, the computer will forward it to us. We can tell Supergirl if you can't reach her through the com. But don't take to long. The League is going to need new blood, and if it won't open up, you will have more groups like the Titans popping up. Oh, and I was asked to tell you they are ready to handle anything on the west coast, by the way." Without saying anything more, Dick walked out the front door, leaving his friend to scratch his head.

_A fist through his wall? Does that mean that Dick and Supergirl... Nahh...._

--- Elsewhere, Transition 3 days.

The first night they had heard the howls, they had seen no sign of the their source. Diana glanced at the bundle of crude spears leaning against the side of the car. Tomorrow would be the last of the gas, and from there, it would be walking the entire way. They had been able to gather a little water in the cloths, but she was under now illusions.

Her debate about freezing to death or dieing by dehydration were interrupted by Batman sniffing the air. "It feels like it is going to snow." He tossed another grass and brush bundle on the fire, shooting pitchy sparks into the sky as the first howl of the night rose, nearby.

Diana shuddered. She had never seen winter before she left home, and she wasn't overly fond of it now that she had seen it. Hera's gifts had kept her warm before, but this time, she thought she would freeze if it got any colder. "So, how far do you think we will get tomorrow before we run out of gas?"

"A lot of the depends on if they just watch all night or jump down." Slowly, calmly, Batman eased a pair of batarangs out of his belt, just the tiniest tip of his chin up to the edge of the cliff above them to show Diana were to look.

Diana looked as cautiously as she could, seeing many pairs of eyes glinting in the fire light. "Great Hera!"

--- Metropolis, two nights after the Funeral

Lois Lane woke to a soft tap on her balcony door. It was a tap she had been waiting for. Struggling her robe on, she tripped her way to the sliding glass, pushing the blind aside to open it the door. "Superman! I've been so... You aren't Superman."

"No, I'm not." Supergirl scowled. "If anyone can tell me what's happening, you can."

Batgirl's voice came from the shadows that had concealed her. "You are the closest thing to a girlfriend he has." Stepping into the light, the redhead smiled gently. "May we come in."

Stepping back into the apartment, the reporter waved to the younger women in silent acceptance. "Supergirl I understand, but what brings you here, Batgirl?"

"There is a mystery here. Batman would have investigate, he was Superman's friend." Glancing around the room, Barb glanced at the first Pulitzer she had ever seen. "And I'm her friend."

"What happened in the fight, Lois? What happened to Toyman?"

Lois looked down at the carpet for a moment. "Superman usually comes here, after a fight, and we would talk. He is afraid he might loose control one day. He told me once, years ago, that he had thought about making sure Luthor couldn't make trouble again. He is scared of himself, even more now that we've seen the Justice Lords. I've seen him, other versions of him, and he could be a monster. He once said I was the thing that kept his demons inside. He's afraid of failing, and having someone, anyone, even a criminal, getting hurt as a result."

Supergirl scowled. "He knows better, we aren't little kids. We do the hero thing because we choose to, he can't do everything."

Lois shook her head grimly. "I know him differently than you do. He has a martyr complex bigger than the sun. I love him, but thinks he can make everything right because how special he is." She crossed her arms, staring out the window. "I watching him shake Toyman. It was like something on the Discovery Channel, about tigers or something. Toyman was screaming, struggling, but Superman just whipped him back and fourth, over and over.... His face...." She drew in a shuddering breath, reliving the moment.

Batgirl laid a gloved hand on the woman's shoulder. "What about his face, Lois?"

"He looked empty. Like someone had sucked his soul out. He wasn't a person at that moment, he was an animal, or a machine. If the Martian hadn't stopped him, Superman would have continued until there was nothing left of Toyman." She took a shuddering, strained breath. "Being brainwashed by Darkseid almost destroyed his credibility. This will, despite all the good he's done since. I called in favors I don't have to keep this out of the press. You understand why, don't you?"

Supergirl's frown deepened. "So Toyman wasn't hurt when Superman destroyed his robot?"

"Not all of it. He wasn't himself, he was gone." Lois turned away from the window, unable to look at a sky he might come from any moment now. "Then yesterday, he's standing there, like nothing happened. He didn't say anything to me. It wasn't like him. He hid for almost six months after Darkseid messed with him, and he spent a lot of those nights here, crying. He turns into everything he's afraid of, and he acts like nothing ever happened. No one has even called me to say if he's ok, or if he's dead."

Glancing at a photo of Lois Lane being saved once again by Superman, the blond girl growled. "The Justice League won't talk to us, either."

"What? But you are heros."

"Yeah, well, someone didn't tell them."

--- Elsewhere, the same night

"How's that; too tight?"

Batman flexed his arm slightly, the whiteness of the bandage stark against his suit. "It's fine. Thank you." His eyes settled again on the pile of vaguely canine bodies. He had shoved his arm in the jaws of one, letting it bit down on his forearm rather than his throat. He had been mildly suprised when his arm hadn't been ripped off, or at least broken. Instead, there was a flashing of light and dark that was accompanied by a cracking sound from somewhere on the otherside of the wolf-thing's skull. He had felt the hammer blow on his arm, then she was gone again.

Then he looked at her as she stood. He had been innoculated against every desiese known to man, and even a few that weren't, but his belt didn't have anything for rabies. "Did you get bitten?"

"Nope. I thought your suit was bullet proof." Diana rummaged in the open truck, looking for something in the small bag of tools they had scavanged.

"Bullet and slash proof, but not stab proof. That would have been too bulky." He frowned when he saw the glint of the utilty knife in her hand as she approached the cooling bodies. "What..."

"We need the hides and meat." Diana, Princess of the Amazons, grabbed a hind leg of the beast on top and pulled it to her. "Dog is a delicacy on Thermascara."

Bruce's reply was a strangled noise.

--- Watchtower, three days after the funeral

Hawkgirl pressed the door switch with her elbow, one hand occupied with a try of cold, dried food. She left behind a fresh one. At least this one had been picked at, even if it didn't look like Superman had moved at all from the chair he had spent the past few days in. He had only gotten out of the chair once, to throw a tray at someone, before returning to his spot.

Flash was in the galley, making something that smelled vaguely mexican. As much as he ate, he had learned to cook well in self defense. "Hey, he ate something."

"He didn't look at me, even when I tried to talk to him." Sighing, Shayera shoved the tray into the cleaning system. "He's taking this harder than he should."

"I'm not sure how I'd take it in his place." With a bitter flick of his fingers, Flash killed the power to the heating element. "I've been thinking a lot about the others, since they died."

Shayera leaned back, half perching on the edge of the counter as she studied the decking. "We all have, Flash."

"No, not like that. The other us, the Justice Lords. Thier Flash died. You didn't see the look on that Batman's face when he thought I was dead." He pushed the pan full of half cooked stuff to a cold burner. "I'm usually looking around more in a fight. I might have gotten there in time, but what if that is when I was supposed...." Thinking, brooding, on this thought hadn't made it any easier to say.

Shayera closed her eyes painfully tight. It wasn't hard to guess was he had been about to say. "You die, they live, and we start burning the brains of criminals."

"I feel like I sentenced them to die; I sacrificed them." With his eyes on the floor, he couldn't see hee her. But he thought he could feel her eyes on him, looking at him with all they hate his eyes had held after talking with Dick. Every morning since then, he stood before the mirror, wondering how deep he could reach if he slipped shaving, his eyes overflowing with thier loathing of him. "Even if it does make a better world, it isn' worth it."

He jumped in suprise when she hugged him. "None of us like what we saw there, Flash. Especially Batman."

"I'm afraid we're going to turn into them no matter what." Wally pushed her back, gently. "You and John talk about improving the defenses of the Watchtower; we already carry Hellfires on the Javelin, and the laser battery. I look at what we are doing to ourselves, at our future, and I get scared."

---Elsewhere, transition 8 days (yes, time is moving differently in the two settings)

Trudging through the deepening snow, Batman was glad his nose was numb. The furs were warm, but green and they were fairly rank. The makeshift pack on his back bulged with rope, a few tools, one car battery and roasted meat, he carried a javelin in his hand. This one was better than the first ones, fitted with a head made from a sharpened piece of body panel and wired into place.

"At least we don't need to worry about water now." Wonder Woman was similiarly encumbered, but she still wore his cape. She had tried to give it back, but he had argueed that his suit and cape were similiarly armoured. A rope was wrapped around her waist, linking the two of them, just in case one found a crevasse under the snow. "You haven't said anything since the last time we stopped for bearings."

"Nothing to say."

Several minutes later, they crested the ridge and paused. From here, they could look quite a way in the direction of the signal. He dug a monocular from his belt, and peered into the distance while he rubbed his coarse beard with ihs free hand. "Look at this."

Diana took the offered glass, and smiled. "It looks like a jungle in that canyon. It will be nice to be warm again." She surveyed the mountain, looking for a good way down this side, and the one between them and the valley. "Camp in the low lands tonight?"

"And follow that river to the valley. It means we might not be able to get a signal for a few days, but I don't think can climb those cliffs." Pocketing the optics, he nodded to her. "Your turn to broadcast, Diana."

"Wonder Woman to any Justice League member. Wonder Woman to the Justice League. Batman and I are still homing in on your signal. We are going to be behind mountains for a few days; do not look for us if you loose our signal. We are heading towards a jungle canyon, we will be following a river. Hera willing, we will see you soon." She stepped forward carefully, following her partner.

--- Batcave, Funeral 4 days

"So, do you think this will work?"

"Why not? They took this thing into space before. It is the same kind of clean ion drive that we use on the Batjet. They just added a contagravity generator and one of the early warp generators. Don't ask me where he got it from." Dick looked up from the mass of hardcopy he had been reading, the source code of for the IFF transponders that the League used. Just burning it the program into a chip wouldn't work, it would have to be syncronised with the Watchtower's computers, which they were locked out of. But if they League hadn't changed thier IFF, Dick was pretty sure he could anticipate the psuedorandom jump in frequency to where it was now. If he couldn't, it was going to be plan "b", which was to try and pick the lock on an airlock.

Barbara shook her head, not looking up from the vaccume suit she was inspecting. "It was built in a kid's basement as a submarine, then they shot it into space. What was up with that?"

"Starfire had some kind of panic attack and ran. Trust a teenager to blow a personal problem into a major crisis." Dick turned back to the computer, tapping slowly as he glanced back and forth between the screen and his calculator.

"So Tim and the others followed. Sweet. Stupid, but sweet." Barb grinned as she twisted the valve to the air tank, letting the suit slowly fill. "Tim was probably going nuts while they got it ready to launch." The suit began to swell under two atmospheres before she closed the valve. If it maintained pressure for a few hours, it would be good to go. "So, why didn't you ever do anything like that for me?"

---

**Author's Notes:**  
For scary versions of Superman, we've seen the Justice Lords, and the version where he and Lex take over the world after Lois Died (SM:TAS, _Brave New Metropolis_)

And it is documented that Dick Greyson and Wally West knew each other in college. As for the Wayne Society for Justice grants, there was to be some way for these guys to pay the bills. Bruce is filthy rich, Clark is probably writing freelance these days, but the others have no visible means of income. Even if those grants do mean that everyone is working for Bruce. evil chuckle

As for my Robin being Tim Drake, DEAL WITH IT! Nothing we've seen proves that the Teen Titans' Robin is Dick Greyson. That thing with Larry was just a bad dream caused by pain. Tim has always seen himself as being the "inferior" Robin, and in Dick's shadow. Having that spaz Larry be his "rival" is a form of one uppance. If that dream ever happened at all. No, it never happened, trust me. I still have scars from where I tried to claw out my brain from that episode. And I've addressed the whole Nightwing thing, so shush! shudders 


	5. Finding

The Last Dance  
by IronRaven 

Yeah. It has been while. But if you thought I was abandoning this, you don't know me very well.

Disclaimer: Batman, Wonder Woman, The Justice League, Teen Titans and related entities, characters and concepts are the property of DC Comics. This continuum was developed by Bruce Timm.

Last time, we got to see that even without her powers, Diana is still every bit Bruce's equal in a fight. And the rest of the team is slowly falling apart, Flash through self doubt, and Clark is halfway to a section-eight. And no one is talking to the kids.

Because of how much this chapter jumps around in location, I'm going to be putting locator tags in each of my separators (---).

--- Elsewhere, Transition 12 days

"MMmmhhmmm... That feels so good."

Bruce pushed his cowl back out of his eyes, before running his fingers through his sweat soaked beard. He wished desperately for a razor- the blasted thing on his face itched. He had never been struck with urge to grow a beard before now. They had reached the floor of the canyon just before sunset last night. The first order of business had to make camp for the night. They had decided to call today a rest day. It had felt good to be someplace warm for the night and let his boots dry out. And now, he was on guard duty.

"Bruce, you don't have to stand watch." Diana ducked her head under the water of the river. A hot spring a few hundred yards upstream from their location, and the water cooled by the run off from the snows at the top of the cliffs. It was a simple matter of moving a few feet to find the perfect temperature. She had scrubbed with the fine sand at the bottom of the river. Even without soap, it was the first bath she'd had in over a week.

"Someone has to, Princess. We don't know if there are any predators around here." He crouched, studying a bush intently. "And I still think this is reckless. You don't know what kind of microbes or parasites might be in that water. This is an alien world."

"We haven't gotten sick yet. And I can't stand my stink any more." She buried her feet deep in the sand, wiggling her toes. "Bruce?"

"Yes, Princess?"

"What kind of guard looks only in one direction?"

--- the Kent farm, Smallville USA, Funeral 5 days

"You really think it is going to make it into space?.. OK, if all of them agree, I'll take their word for it. I'll leave just after dark... Barb! Please, I don't need a plane ticket! I'll see you about 10." Kara Kent set the phone back in its cradle. Stretching, letting her back crack, she smiled up at the ceiling. It was not a happy smile, more of a predatory grimace. She didn't really like what she was about to do, but she had no choice. Clark had gone missing since the funeral for Wonder Woman and Batman. Lois hadn't seen him, he wasn't at his place in Metropolis or the one near the North Pole, and no one could be reached at the Watchtower. By the time the sun shone on the corn, she would know what was wrong with her cousin.

"So you are just going to barge in on him?" Jonathan Kent leaned against the open doorway. He was bothered by the lack of word from Clark, but he seen men in various kinds of grief before. Jonathan knew his son was stronger than normal man, stronger than he himself had been years ago; everyone had a breaking point. But this invasion of Clark's privacy just didn't feel right.

"Uncle, I hope he's ok. But this isn't like him. If he's suffering from shell shock, he needs help, and he can't get it if he is hiding." Kara stepped closer to him, a look of mixed desperation and sadness of her face. "I want to go up there, and have to leave a note to apologies for breaking in while they are away on a mission. I really do. But if that was the case, we'd at least be able to leave a message with the computer. The League has closed itself off from everyone, and the last time anyone saw Clark he wasn't able to stand up by himself."

"Kara's right, Jonathan, and you know it. Something is wrong, Clark needs help. He wasn't himself when he was giving that eulogy. You said as much."

"OK, Martha, ok." Jonathan raised his hands. "Just be careful, Kara. We don't want to loose you, to."

--- Elsewhen, later that same day

Diana followed the riverbanks, several large, rat-like creatures held be her tail in one hand, her javelin in the other. They had been gutted near where she had killed them- no point in attracting scavengers to camp.

In some ways, she new she would miss this place. It was more humid than home, and the jungle was different, but in a way it was the same. Nothing here was packaged and processed and sanitized for her protection. Occasionally, she had had to wonder if living in Masworld had made her soft. Having fresh meat, even if it did come from something that looked like an anorexic, stubby-tailed beaver, said otherwise. They had seen larger life, but all of it beetles of some type; they knew that the mammalian meat was safe to eat here.

She had felt bad about leaving Bruce behind, but while was a lord of the urban jungle, he just wasn't as quiet as she was here. She smiled, thinking of how he had softened over the past two weeks. While Batman was admirable, Bruce made her feel comfortable. That was something she hadn't been able to have with Hawkgirl, and J'onn, while not a man born of woman, was still an alien. There was just too much different about thier backgrounds. As a princess, Diana knew she would have probably been as rich as Audrey if Thermescara hadn't been hidden away. That kind of life style had it's attraction, even if Audrey's past intensity was intoxicating. But Bruce lived the same kind of life, and he was king of his own domain, or at least of his own corporation. He didn't guzzle the luxury, he just sort of sipped it and basked in its glow. Diana thought that it was a life style she could adapt to, so long as she could maintain her Amazon edge.

A massive insectoid buzzed past her face, ignoring her completely. She shook her head, and looked about. _Wrong place and time to daydream._ She could see through the thin trees on either side of the water way a thin ribbon of smoke. As she got closer, she thought she could hear humming. Diana frowned- Batman never hummed. But as she got closer, it most certainly was Bruce's voice. Not Batman's, Bruce's; not for the first time, she wondered if they might not be two separate people in the same body. She stopped behind a bush, her eyes widening a little at what she saw. Bruce had made a small, but hot looking fire, and gathered a quantity of wood at one end of a shelter. The latter had been constructed of their capes and light branches. Beside the fire, cradled in a ring of stones, a large cup made from a single leaf was filled with still slightly steaming water. A couple of empty ones where nearby. "Someone has been busy."

Bruce looked up at the sound of her voice. He hadn't heard her, over the other noises of the jungle. His mask and cowl lay on the ground next to where he sat bare chestted, a piece of what look like flint in his hand. "I was about to call your comm. I see you had good hunting."

She set her javelin next to her as she knelt near him. A soaked piece of the wolf hide was on the ground in front of him, littered with bit of rock. She picked up a glistening shard in her fingers, gently testing the edge. "Not bad. Something else you studied?"

He shook his head, before picking up the larger piece of quartz he had been using as a striker. With a spray of sparks, the shape of the flint changed a little. "Public television."

Diana laughed. "Was it something sponsored by the Superhumanite?"

"Nope." He raised his head, grinning. "Luthor got so sick of opera, he made his own donation to them for history and technology programming. Of course, someone made a donation in the Humanite's name to counter Lex's."

"Oh Hera, you didn't. Bruce, that is evil." She turned the shard of flint in her hand a few times, before she found a good grip on it, and began to skin and section on of the things she had caught. "Isn't a risk to make a pot out of a leaf you haven't tested?"

"Didn't react to it when I rubbed it on my skin, and I didn't feel sick building camp, so I'd say it is safe. Stewed rodent of unusual size?"

--- Batcave, later that evening

"They are down at the sub pool, Miss Kara." Alfred moved stiffly. The past few days had been as rough on him as they had on everyone else. He had arranged for Master Bruce to suddenly leave town on a meditational retreat. No, he wasn't able to say were, was what he had to tell those who came looking for him. No, he couldn't say when Master Bruce would be back, sorry. The real trick had been to make it look like he really had left town, at least on paper.

"Alfred, please, just call me Kara. I can find it, thanks." She tossed herself down the stairs, catching the air before the stone caught her, and glide in the direction of much thumping and banging. The sight waiting for her was beyond strange, and she had to giggle for the first time since the funeral.

A space suit hung on a rack, while two others stumbled about, trying to be quiet. A fourth crouched at the workbench, trying to connect a handheld computer to a port on the one on the bench. The cable fell from between the gloved fingers, obviously not for the first time to judge from the way it was snatched from the floor and the faint muttering that leaked through the insulated helmet.

"Is this the Three Stooges?"

The medium tall figure undogged it's visor, flipping it up with a slight hiss. Barbara grinned at her friend. "I'll remember to make fun of you when you try this. Gravity and atmosphere aren't the same thing. Some parts of the Watchtower have one and not the other."

The others removed their helmets to, Robin and Nightwing already in their costumes along with Batgirl, so that they could see how it would feel, look and sound when the time came. Tim tossed the armoured PDA on the bench in disgust as he did so. "Does anyone know if duct tape works in vacuum? The gloves are too clumsy; we can get the cable in, but we can't tighten the screws, so nothing will hold it in place."

"Sounds like you have been thinking this through." Kara glanced at the tiny LED screen on the handheld. "So what is the plan?"

"Before we launch, we try to contact them one last time. If they don't reply, The Watchtower has a blind spot. If we come up from directly under it, along it's axis, it won't be able to see us so long as we don't use the engines." Tim tapped at the keys of the bench computer with a pair of pens, calling the information up on this screen. "There is a personnel airlock here. This area is mostly storage, water and air purification, that kind of thing. The water is pumped, so we aren't sure if there is gravity, but there is certainly air. Override the door from the port on the control panel, and use that access to knock out the interior sensors. The second option is the number four cargo bay here, " he tapped at the keys some more, spinning the image, "and that is listed as being unused. We aren't sure if there is atmosphere there; the entire thing can be used as an airlock, and there is a smaller one leading from it to the rest of the Watchtower."

"Why did they make it so big? You could be a Javelin through those doors." Kara traced the schematic with her finger on the screen. "And a triple airlock. Emergency hanger?"

"Or an exotic environment area. The specs on the walls are pretty odd. Chlorine, fluorine, nothing will react with that space. Bring your own atmosphere, and you can put pretty much any kind of life imaginable in there." Dick shook his head. The only advantage to it is that it is 20 yards from the door we want if we can't get it open for some reason, but we will probably be seen. We might as well use the main hanger bay, but it right next to your cousin's quarters. You said you didn't want to talk to any one before you saw him."

"Right. I'm sick of them not tell us anything about him. I think I'd rather be lied to." Kara crossed her arms tightly. "We need to find Clark first, and then the others."

"Well, before we do that, let's make sure this suit fits you. You could probably get away with a breather, but..." Barbara had shed her suit completely, and was eyeing her friend. "I'm glad you wore shorts, not the skirt."

--- Elsewhen, transition 19 days

Diana cupped her hands around her mouth and whooped, a high-pitched howl. "J'onn! Superman! Flash! Where are you?!"

"We should be able to see them any second now." Batman beat at a thicket of grass-like plants before him with a stick, knocking them down. He looked up as he made sure his cowl and mask were down again, hiding his face. It had been nice to be Bruce with Diana for a while, but now he had be to be his real self. Yesterday, he hadn't called her Princess, or even Diana, just Wonder Woman. He was panting for breath when he switched off with Wonder Woman to clear their path.

It had been several long weeks. He had replayed the scenarios in his head several times, including finding their teammate or mates dead bodies, the two of them the only survivors. It wasn't a bad planet to play Robinson Crusoe on, but he would have preferred one a little less humid. He winced each time a scratch was brushed by the fabric of his armour and the hides of the wolf-things. The past few days had all been alike- beat a path ahead, and if you wanted to watch, the jungle would close up behind them. Stopping would have allowed the jungle to devour them. It was only the tube of stimulants, saved for the last resort, that had kept them going. "Batman to the League. We are right on top of you, give us a signal."

Ahead of him, he saw clear sky from Wonder Woman's last slash with the battered branch. He followed her as she stumbled into the clearing, bare of all vegetation.

The clearing was a gouge in the forest, easily half a mile wide and five long. Only the youngest, smallest growths had begun to return to the soil that had been seared and torn by the once red hot mass. But neither hero noticed as they absorbed what lay before them.

The Watchtower, bent, battered, burned, but still intact.

"Batman!?"

He nearly dropped the flint tipped spear he had been carrying. "We're on Earth."

--- Watchtower, Southern Maintenance Passage #2, Funeral 6 days

They had left their suits in the airlock, they wouldn't be needing them right away. The trick had been to get into a position where they could make a slow boost, and coast to an intercept with the Watchtower from a lower orbit, their burn having been made while their target was half a world away. The had been able to use the personnel lock that they had wanted. Outside, a zip tie through a handhold held the PDA in place. The computers of the Watchtower were able to defend themselves well, but the maintenance access codes hadn't been changed. An attack from on site by an apparently authorized user was something they couldn't deal with.

The four costumed heroes quietly moved down the corridor, listening, watching. Even though League was the goodguys, it was easiest to think of this as sneaking into an unfriendly facility. Nightwing was first, his soft boots silent on the metal deck. Robin was behind him, with Batgirl last. From her position in the middle of the group, Supergirl could move forward or back with equal ease. Robin had volunteered for the rear guard position, but he had been outvoted- Batgirl could throw things over his head if she was behind him. The four had worked this out during their slow crawl to the Watchtower's orbit. They were taking an awfully big assumption that quarters assignments hadn't changed since the plans in Batcave's computer were loaded, but Bruce had been obsessive about maintaining his records. They had each memorized the turns and twists to Clark's cabin.

Nightwing dropped swiftly to one knee at a junction, one hand raised behind him to halt the others. Bruce had trained him, Batgirl and Robin well. He was glad that Supergirl was almost as good, he had heard only the tiniest scrape, not even a fraction as loud as the sound he had heard before them. A female voice, it had to be Hawkgirl.

"Any idea how long that thing has been next to us?"

"None. J'onn thinks it is the Titan's vessel, but it didn't answer our hail."

The Latern, John Stewart. Nightwing smiled tightly, they had sent their best. _When you care enough_

"Hey, kids, you might as well come out. We know you are in here."

Robin clenched his teeth together. He hated being called kid. A gloved hand tapped his shoulder gently. _Control. _Robin took a deep, silent breath, letting it take his frustration with it. He flashed a thumbs up back to Supergirl, thanking her.

Hawkgirl called to them. "This isn't a game, guys. If you are down here, we will find you. Don't make us have to go looking for you."

Batgirl flinched at the soft noise as she slipped the equipment locker open. The plan had been to talk to no one before Superman, and this was the only hiding place in the corridor. _Great, full._ She continued looking for an alternative passage, along with the others, finding nothing. The one thing that Bruce had left out of the Watchtower was secret passages. Either that, or they hadn't appeared on the plans.

A green glow illuminated the passage theirs crossed. "Robin, I know you are here. It was a cute trick, knocking out the sensors from the airlock's diagnostic port."

All four tensed as the light and footsteps got closer. Three sets of eyes rested on the back of Nightwing's neck. As Batman's heir, Batgirl and Robin accept his leadership for this mission. Supergirl was a less likely to take orders, but she knew good advice when she saw it. So long as she didn't loose her temper.

The footsteps stopped just short of the junction, a whitish-blue glow joining the beam of green light. Silence, no voices. A tiny scrape, like soft fabric brushing the wall of the corridor.

Barb rested a steadying hand on her friend's shoulder, sending her the same silent message that at just been given to Tim.

The white glow shrank to nothing. Footsteps.

Green Lantern, his back to the far side of the passage, held his fist down at his side as he spun into their view. "Not bad. Let's keep it that way, ok?"

With fluid grace, Nightwing stood, his right hand outstretched. "Consider it a resume."

"Where is my cousin?"

--- Elsewhen

When the Wayne Aerospace engineers designed the Watchtower, they had planned for most ever contingency. The Manual hydraulics let them pry open one of the personnel airlocks. Even though the satellite had been down for a while, the emergency power supplies were still charged. According to the computer, it's sensors showed that the fuel cells needed to be refueled, and those would be operable.

The computer showed the same information whenever it was queried about the members of the League:  
-Green Lantern LOCATION UNKNOWN  
-Hawkgirl LOCATION UNKNOWN  
-Flash LOCATION UNKNOWN  
-J'onn J'onzz LOCATION UNKNOWN  
-Batman LOCATION UNKNOWN  
-Batgirl LOCATION UNKNOWN  
-Supergirl LOCATION UNKNOWN

"That makes no sense. You are on the list, and so is Batgirl. And where is Superman?"

"That isn't me." With a hand that had the barest hint of a tremor, Bruce traced the image on the screen. He rested his fingertips on the shoulders of the other Batman, and on those of Batgirl. Tracks in the grime on his cheeks showed in the pale light of the panel, between mask and beard. "You knew him as Nightwing, my first student. In my will, I asked him to take over for me."

"Something must have happened to Superman." Diana pressed tapped at the console, looking for any recent messages, but the effects of solar flares and component decay had wiped out any messages waiting for them. Not even their own com signals had been logged, supporting the likelihood that only the beacon remained functional. It had been designed so that any League member could have the Javelin sent to them on autopilot, or to allow the small craft to find the Watch Tower if it had wounded aboard. "He might have been hit by the same thing we were. He might still be out there."

"Or he might have already left, or he hasn't arrived yet. Or he's dead. Or he wasn't hit by Toyman's beam. We don't have what we need to search an entire planet for him. The sun must be near the end of it's life to be shining red. But how far into the future are we?"

A shadow in the girders stirred, a smooth, cultured voice gliding from the darkness. "I can answer that question, Detective."

---  
**Authors Notes:**  
I can see it now. The Bruce Wayne Action Figure with REAL Caveman Grip.

As for why they would use an LED display on a space-armoured PDA rather than an LCD one, LCD panels can fail in very high or low pressures. For a nix based item, a command line works just as well, and you can do that easily enough with LEDs. As for input, chorded keys. With enough practice, you can supposedlyexceed 10 characters a second on those things.

"Detective"? Isn't that was Ra'sha G'uld called Batman?

Yeah, it wasn't as good as the earlier chapters. That real life thing again. Sorry


	6. Adapting

The Last Dance  
by IronRaven 

Ok, after a long haitus inflicted by the real world, I'm going to try to finish this before moving onto other writing projects.

_Watchtower_

"Clark?" Timidly, Kara stepped into the room. The lights were dimmed almost to nothing, the window polorized to nearly opaque. It was stuffy, the air stale. The bed was unmade and well used. It didn't feel like person's a room any more. It was more like the den of a animal. A wounded one, who had retreated there to heal, or to...

She stopped next to his chair, looking down into the overstuffed extravegance Clark had brought up from the surface. His hair was matted and dirty, and he hadn't shaved in a while. He slumped in the lounger, staring out into space with eyes like holes lanced into a snow bank with a red hot poker. Cautiously, the young woman poked her cousin in the cheek with a fingertip. "Clark."

Slowly, like an underpowered machine in dreadful need of lubrication, Clark turned his head, staring at her without comprehension for a few seconds before his jaw worked. "Kara?"

_Elsewhen_

Batman dropped into a defensive crouch, his last remaining baterang in his hand as looked at the source of the voice. "Ra's Al Ghul."

"He would send his greetings if he could, Detective." A tall, distinguished form stepped from the shadows, his voice deeper, more gutteral than Ghul's. "Hello, Bruce, Diana. You two still make a lovely couple."

Both hero's voices hissed a name at the sight. "Savage!" Wonder Woman drew the flint knife she carried at her belt, her lips curled back in a snarl. "What are you doing here?"

"living, suriviving," Smiling warmly, the immortal continued to step forward. "Hopefully, making peace. It has been several thousand years since I've seen anyone."

Standing, Bruce's hand did not move, his voice brittle and angry. "When are we?"

"Hmmm..." Glancing at the ceiling, his fingers moved as he did the math. "About thirty thousand years have past, give or take a few millenia."

The two heros glanced at eachother in disbelief. "Thiry thousand years?"

Savage grinned sheepishly, spreading his hands. "Approximately: after the first ten thousand, I might have lost track."

_Watchtower_

"All we want is access to your communications and information network." Robin's hands were pressed flat to the table top. He gritted his teeth as he tried to keep from raising his voice.

"This is no place for children." J'onn's eyes glowed softly as he thought about what the teen had just said. "You are gifted, but by your culture, you aren't ready to join us. Yet."

Hawkgirl shorted in contempt of the discussion. "You're what, kid: 16? 17? On Thanegar, he'd already be doing his time in the military. They might be younger than the rest of us, but the Titans are a good asset. Besides, John, what about that kid you know in Dakota?"

"She's right." Nightwing unfolded to his feet, scowling at the Martian and the Latern from under his mask. "They might be young, but the Titans aren't inexperinced. They've logged deep space time already, and know more about magic than any current member of the League. No offense, but Robin was patrolling with us before some of those at this table were even on this world." With a grunt, Hawkgirl grinned to show none was taken, while J'onn and John were impassive. "And that's just five of them. Supergirl. Batgirl and I. So how about it? Give us the access we are asking for, and we our services can be made available the same way Batman's were. And people who still owe us favors. Or does the 'Batclan' and the League go thier seperate ways?"

"Are you trying to black mail us, kid?" Green Lantern scowled as he crossed his arms. "You might be Batman's kids or something, but-"

"John, he isn't kidding. Look at him. I've known Dee for a while, and he could teach statues a thing about poker faces." Flash's aprehension shown through his cowl. Dick had always cleaned the table when he touched the cards.

Grinning slightly, Green Lantern dropped his elbows to the table and leaned forward, staring into Nightwing's mask. "'Dee'? That's interesting." Seeing an opening, GL lept at it, trying to make the other guy flinch as the ante was raised.

Flash had the decency to turn the color of his uniform as Robin glared at him.

"This is stupid." Standing suddenly, Batgirl nearly tipped her chair over. "Superman either isn't able or isn't willing to do his job. None of you are. And you want to keep playing games. So Flash knows some of us from before he was Flash. Does it really matter?" The redhead's fists were curled. The lies and the avoidence were pissing her off. What her mentor had seen in them was beyond her at this moment.

"No, it doesn't." J'onn spoke quietly from his chair, somehow looking at both Robin and Hawkgirl at the same time; they looked like they were ready to wade in, fists and maces and staves swinging at any moment. "We need to think about this before we do anything."

"Do we?" Having recoverd from his slip, Flash swept his eyes over everyone in the room. When he spoke, his voice was trembling with anger. "We've done a lot of thinking the past week. It's time to do something. The big guy is ready for the rubber room ward, and Batman and Wonder Woman are dead. In case you haven't been keeping up in the news, we are in some really sorry shape right now, man."

The explosion Hawkgirl had been waiting for was building before her eyes. Decisions had been made, things had been said, but Flash was laying all the cards on the table. And the League was holding aces and eights. She was about to say something when Supergirl slammed into the galley in a rage, flying at shoulder height.

Kara grabbed J'onn by the shoulders and slammed him to the deck, back first. Her face was streaked with rage as she bounced the Martian's head of the deck a few times, before he phased through. With a streaky discharge of light, Hawkgirl's mace crashed against a barrier thrown from GL's ring, only inches from the back of Supergirl's head.

"What are you doing!" The Latern's harsh bark brought everyone to a stand still. Nightwing, Batgirl and Robin had eached retreated to the edge of the room, weapons in hand. Hawkgirl's lips were curled back in feral rage, her mace already crackling from its rebuilt charge. J'onn had phased back up thorugh the floor, but he was careful to keep the table between him and his attacker, watching Supergirl squrim in the grasp on Green Lantern's energy.

Her voice an angry hiss, Supergirl bit her words off. "He used Clark! He made a puppet out of him!" Vainly she struggled in the grip of the green energy as she kicked her legs. Tears of rage streaked her face as she stayed focused on her target. "You bastard! You are his friend, he trusted you!"

Weak, Superman stumbled against the door way. "No fighting. No fighting." The shape of the Man of Steel brought Flash out of his stunned state as he rushed to the big guy's side to support him. "Don't fight them, Kara."

J'onn set his hand on his John's shoulder. "Let her go. She is right, we should-"

"We?" Taken aback, Hawkgirl blinked. Even as she let her mace return to a safe condition, she stepped towards the two Johns, looking between them. "What do you mean we?"

"Green Lantern and I decided that it would be best this way."

Sliding Superman into a chair, Flash glared at his teammates. "When did you do it? We decided that was out of the question!"

"Probably while Hawkgirl was getting Diana's mother." Robin lowered his staff, his anger still visable along side that of his teammates. "Flash, you probably had to crash about then, right?"

"Good guess, kid." Green Lantern released his hold as Kara stopped her struggling, ready to resume his grip in an instant. "We needed the League to look strong."

"And if Superman wasn't able to speak at the funeral..." Nightwing's words trailed off slightly, only to be picked up by Batgirl "...Every supercriminal would have known that the Justice League was out of commision."

Nodding angrily, Hawkgirl hung her mace on her belt. "You should have told us."

"You told me you didn't think you could do it safely, that you might lobotomize him." Fast as thought, Flash's finger was under J'onn's nose, twitching so fast it buzzed like a humming bird. "But you went and did it anyway. What were you thinking? Where you thinking! "

"Too many telepaths and empaths were at the funeral." J'onn's shoulders hung as limp as his head, repeating the excuses he had said to himself since he started down this path. "We couldn't take the risk of them finding out. His ring protects Green Lantern to some degree, and I would have sensed it. Hawkgirl's natural barriers are strong. The fewer people who knew, the safer it was. We couldn't let Superman's condition become public. I'm sorry, Flash."

"You're sorry? Sorry!" Gloved hands on her shoulders held Supergirl back beofre she could launch another attack.

"I thought that was why Supes was acting odd, but I didn't want to admit it. How could you, J'onn." Flash's voice was tight. He liked J'onn, and he looked up to John as a mentor. The older Centralite had taught him a lot. "Both of you; we have a word for this back home."

"Look, kid, it wasn't-"

This was the last lesson. This was the lesson called 'trust no one'. His self control gone, Flash blurred to his friend, a red finger poking the white center of the latern like a minature jackhammer. "Don't call me kid! None of us are kids! And don't tell me it wasn't personal. The Big Guy needs some real help." The crimson blur moved to the side of the once again unconcious Kryptonian. "And he can't get that here."

The joker, the peacemaker, Flash had saved the team on more than one occasion. The Leaguers knew what the future might hold without him there. And how much they needed him with them. And this time, they were pushing him away.

"I'll send the shuttle back up on auto." Picking the withdrawn man up like a child, Flash grunted softly. "I'm out of here."

The younger heros looked at eachother before following thier peer towards the lift, and the waiting Javelin in the hanger one. Robin paused in the hatch way, to look at those who remained behind. "What I said about there being a lot of people who wanted to join your club: forget it. Stay out of Jump City."

_Elsewhen_

"Toyman had no idea what he was building. He thought he had created a weapon that tore matter apart at the quantum level." Savage smirked, his arms crossed. "What he really was doing was firing tachyons."

"So he made a time machine," Batman growled.

"An extremely powerful one. I- omph!" Savage doubled over with a grunt, Wonder Woman's fist in his belly.

Wonder Woman yanked her arm free of Batman's hands angrilly, furious. "And you can send us back."

Rubbing his solar plexus, Savage grimaced. It had been a long time since he had been punched, he was out of practice. "It isn't that easy. Let's go back to my house, and we can discuss it." The immortal grinned as he stood, an honest smile. "Like you've got something better to do."

_Wayne Manor_

The living room was filled in a way it had never had been. A group of people, late teens and early 20s, friends and friends of friends. But this group was deadly somber beneith thier exhaustion.

Wally West sat on a couch, sprawled with feet up on the low table and resting on his mask. He was staring up at the ceiling, not really seeing it. Instead he was replaying the "discussion" at the conference table and the flight down from the Watertower. A part of him had almost expected Green Latern to follow him, intercept him, make it look like an accident on re-entry. He expected it, but he knew that John wasn't capable of something like that, but two weeks ago, he knew the brainwashing was also out of bounds. It had been risky landing the Javelin so close to Wayne Manor, but it was worth the risk in his opinion. If anyone said anything, the League would just deny it. Just another lie.

The others were likewise unmasked, but uniformed. Barbara closed her laptop down, having fed it the last of the information Wally had given them about how to get into the Watchtower's computers and listen to the League's coms. "So, whats next."

"We start talking to people, building a network." Dick set the pencil he had been writting with down on his notepad. "You and me, we talk to everyone from Boston to DC. Steele, Jason Blood, Zatanna, Static, there must be 50 heros on the East Coast."

"And the Titan's co-ordinate the West Coast?" Tim had used a suit from the Javelin to cross to his... ship? The thing needed a real name badly. He had already planned an suborbital hop shortly after last light in Jump City. "Lots of the people out there are already in touch with us from time to time. I'll email Speedy tonight, we can reach Green Arrow through him, and we can talk to Aqualad within a few days. He can get word to his uncle."

"Aquaman will probably stay out of this." Wally swung his feet down to the thick carpet, resting his chin on his palms. "If he picks someone to side with, it will probably be the League. He isn't in it for Earth, just his part of it."

"We also need some help with Europe and Asia. And the center of the country. Queen Audry snd Kara might be able to help there." Barbara sipped quietly from the cup of coffee that Alfred had given her hours ago. "Wally, you aren't going back to the League, are you."

"Probably not. I don't know, Barbara." The redheaded man shook his head. "I can't believe that John and J'onn could do that to Superman. It was so cold. That's the kind of thing I expect from Luthor or the Joker. Maybe Savage. I'm not sure I can trust them ever again."

"That might not be a bad idea." Leslie Thompson stepped into the room, her usually pleasent face clearly annoyed. As the Wayne family doctor, she had been a part of the secret since the beginning. "Mr. Kent has lost a noticable amount of weight, and he's obviously traumatised." She poured herself into the next to last chair in the room. "Post traumatic stress disorder. He's largely retreated from reality. And from what Kara said, the Martian and the Latern didn't help."

Tim glanced towards the ceiling, then at the doctor. "Can't you help him, like you helped me?"

Leslie shook her head. "I don't know. I was able to help you with medication; I have no idea what it would do with a Kryptonian. And I didn't have to worry about you tearing the building in half if you became agitated during hypnosis."

Like a genie, Alfred appeared with a cup of coffee at the physician's side. "I'm sure the others would agree that Master Bruce would have wanted to make sure Mr. Clark would be well, and would have opened every door within Wayne Enterprises to be sure." Every eye turned to Dick. He was the new lord of the manor. Alfred had volunteered to stay with Wayne Manor for the time being. This might have been a test from the older man to his new leige.

"Clark can stay as long as is needed." Dick nodded silently, his jaw set like Bruce's had been so many times. As it had been with Bruce, he took Alfred's suggestions seriously, probably more so. "Doc, tell me what you need. You'll have it."

_Elsewhen_

Batman unwrapped his arms from Wonder Woman's middle and leapt down lightly. "Where are we?"

"This used to be Metropolis. The World Assembly was here... someplace." Dusting the dust from his leg, Savage walked over. "What's much left of the city when I started building, but the earthquakes leveled most everything in Metropolis. The only area where anything was left was the Park. You two will want to see this." Waving with his hand, he started walkign briskly towards a low hill.

Her long legs quickly eating the distance between her and Savage, Wonder Woman caught up with him. "Earthquakes? Metropolis wasn't on a fault line. What happened."

Slowly slightly, Savage sighed without stopping. "I happened."

"What do you mean, you happened."

As the made thier way up the rise, Savage's voice continued, softly relating a tale that he had spoken until it was just words. "I was able to get my hands on a quantity of dark matter. The scientist I stole it from had planned on using it to learn about the creation of the universe. I tried to rule the world. I used it to make a gravity weapon."

Batman shook his head. "Gravity weapon?"

"Here we are." Throwing his arm out with a showman's gesture, Savage pointed to the one piece of remaining sculpture in what had once been a park, surrounded by waist and ankle high walls outlining where buildings had once been. He smiled when he heard the two gasps. "They erected it as a tombstone for the both of you. Your funeral was quite moving, it was on all the networks. I had the DVD."

"It is remarkably well preserved." Batman eyed Savage suspisiously.

"Thank you, it's restoration was my project for about ten years." Savage walked with his hands clasped before him, an almost holy air about him. "Since Ra's Al decided he couldn't deal with the world any more, I turned to my projects to keep my sanity."

"You're insane, you always have been." Striding down the hill, Diana could mearly marvel at it's condition and the detail that had survived this long. She remember posing for her part of it, in Kasnia. She hadn't known that Br- Batman had done so as well. She tried not to let her annoyance show at Savage's comeback, "True, but I'm in good company. Sane people don't target a strategic weapon at themselves."

From the back of the line, Batman growled silently. "You were telling us what happened."

"Oh, yes, were was I... Oh, yes. The gravity weapon was more powerful than I anticipated. It disrupted the orbits of the planets and even the sun was damaged." Savage looked up the statue, thinking back. "The League and it's allies tried to stop me, but even they weren't able to stand against me. The hardest challange was the Latern; I killed him over there." He paused, pointing in a direction. "Or maybe it was over there," he pointed do a different corner, lost in his memories, oblivious to the anger growing around him.

Wonder Woman's anger was feeding on her teammates, forcing her to ask the question he never would. "What happened to Batman and Batgirl, and the Titans."

Savage looked at Wonder Woman, half expecting another blow. "They tried, but they were dust before-" That was as far as he got Batman's fist crashed into his jaw, spinning him, the first of a flury of blows. When Savage looked up, the Dark Knight was standing over him, the last bararang again in hand, the sun glinting on the razor-sharp edge. "Go ahead, kill me, I deserve it." Savage started to sit up, his voice bitter. "Do it, get it out of your system. But it gets boring. Trust me, I know. I did it enough times."

Wonder Woman stepped in, grabbing Batman's wrist, holding it tightly. "Don't do it, he isn't worth it." She glared down at her old advisary. "Besides, we can always kill him later."

Standing fully, Savage dusted himself off. "That isn't very reassuring."

_Kent Farm, Smallville_

"Martha, they might not have had the right, but they had the reason. Clark would have sacrificed himself to save the world if he could." Johnathan Kent leaned against the rail of the front porch. "The League waved the flag, even if they might not have been able to back it up."

Kara sat on the porch swing, her legs curled under her as she stroked her cat, Speedy. "Like a scare crow. It works, so long as the crows don't notice."

Martha Kent was an intelligent and reasonable woman. She knew the world wasn't black and white, and even heros had thier failings. But she was still a mother. "It doesn't change that they used him like a puppet."

"It was the Latern. And probably Hawkgirl. They are soldiers; they can detach their feelings from the mission." Johnathan let his mind wander back, to his youth in the service of his country. "Sometimes sacrifices have to be made."

"But why Clark?" Martha thought back to the last time his mind had been twisted, by that beast Darkseid. Clark still talked in his sleep when he returned and would would say that name with fear or hatred. She knew how close he felt to most of those on his team. Hawkgirl was the one he said the least about; Martha wasn't sure if she trusted the winged woman as much as the others. She seemed... too aggressive.

"Becuase he and Batman were the leaders of the League. As Uncle John said, they had to 'show the flag'. Otherwise, people might think the League is broken, and every wacko with a nuke would stick thier heads up." Kara rubbed her nose between Speedy's ears, taking comfort in his scent.

"Clark is stronger, more resiliant than most people in the universe." Johnathan looked up, shading his eyes. "It won't work too long. It sounds like they are falling apart up there."

"Barb and me and the others have talked about it. We are going to try and talk people into forming regional co-operatives. Not teams like the League, but say Flash needs help in Central: I can be there in 25 mintues, 15 if I annoy people." The cat jumped out of her lap with a feline grunt. "And we aren't limiting it only to the top percent of heros like the Justice League. We'll be unlimited- if you are a hero, we want your phone number and what you can do."

"But Kara, what about Clark?"

"Dick told me that there if you call him, there will be a Wayne Enterprises jet at the air field about the time you guys get there. They can have you in Gotham in a few hours." She shrugged. "Until he's a little better, Dr Thompson wants him to stay at the Manor. How long that is is up to him. Then we can bring him home."

_Elsewhen_

Diana moved through the halls, silently, looking for Bruce. He hadn't said very much since he attacked Savage, not that she blamed him. He had quickly disappeared into the labrynth of halls and rooms that Savage had constructed. She had already searched the grounds, there was no sign of him leaving. Savage was confident that he hadn't gotten far, and he would return, but she was worried.

She found a door ajar leading to a suite of rooms on one of the upper floors, as she wondered why one person needed this much room. She found her prey on a balconey, staring out at the mutilated moon. "So this is where you've been hiding." She stepped onto the perch, standing next to him. "I was worried about you. You weren't yourself earlier."

For a long time she stood with him, in silence, before turning to go back in. "If you want to talk about it, I'm in the guest rooms off the Greeco-roman artifacts."

She had almost made it to the door when a pained, ragged voice stopped her. It wasn't the voice of Batman, or of Bruce Wayne. It was the voice of utter, total dispair, of a lost child grown large. "He killed them, Diana. He killed my children, and can't even tell me where he did it."

She quickly returned to his side, his frame seemingly shrunk. She pushed his mask and cowl up, off of his face, seeing the tears in his eyes again, his face bleak. "Bruce, they died trying to protect people." She hugged him to her, letting him cling to her as the pain flowed through him.

"I didn't find them, they found me. Dick, and Tim. Even Barbara. They needed revenge, just like I did, and I gave it to them. They were just kids when they died, Diana. The League, Batman, all the tights and capes, it didn't make a bit of difference. They never had a chance to be normal children."

"You said that Nightwing became Batman after you died. He had been Robin before, and then the younger Robin created that group in Jump City, right?" He nodded, the tears starting to flow from under his mask. She was still wearing his cape, which she wrapped around both of them. "To the Greeks, 14 was old enough to lead a house hold or be a soldier. They were old enough to make thier own choices. Robin was that old, and Flash was probably about the same age as Nightwing and Batgirl."

A small, sad laugh escaped Bruces lips. "They went to college together. Did you know Flash was trained as a chemist? Wally and Dick were in the same fraternity, Dick tutored him in a couple of classes. He's a good man, he'll put it together. Dick will know who Flash really is by now, and he tell Wally the truth."

"It is a small world." Diana glanced at the door, glad to see it was still empty. "Bruce, there is somethign else. Tell me, please. It doesn't have to be your private burden."

Bruce thought back to an angry night in the Batcave, years ago. "I asked them to quit, Diana, to live normal lives. After what the Joker did to Tim, I couldn't stand the thought of them working with me any more. I told them to leave." Drawing a shudeering breath, he continued after a moment "They followed orders, at least part of them. Dick and I fought again, and he left. Even Barbara stopped talking to me for a while. And Tim just left in the middle of the night. I had no right, Diana. They've all nearly died so many times. Dick has never had a normal life; neither has Barbara, although she tries. Tim is barely 16, and he almost killed the Joker. The Joker kidnapped him, and brainwashed him; if Barbara hadn't forced me to bring her, and if she hadn't talked Dick into joining us when we rescued Tim... I stole thier childhoods, Diana. They never got to be normal people, they didn't know what they were giving up. Savage didn't kill them, I did." The guilt flooded him, robbing his breath as he sobbed against her, collapsing physically and emotionally.

All Diana could do was hang on, stroking his back, letting him cry. "You gave them a purpose, Bruce, and you taught them to survive on thier the path they chose for themselves. That counts for something.

**Author's notes:**  
Everyone has a breaking point. I think this would be Bruce's. And when the strong break, they usually shatter.

I can see the two Jons talking about this, with Wally saying just how bad of an idea it would be. And the two of them doing it anyway. It is a strategic move, and a ballsy one, but one I'd think about making myself. But I've been accused of being heartless.

Last time I looked, Smallville is somewhere in Iowa. Central City is in Missouri, just across the river from Keystone in Kansas. A couple times the speed of sound, after you climb high enough to not break windows, you could be there in 25 minutes. The alternative version of the past(AFAIK, it is non-Prime) puts Keystone in (duh) Pennsylvania, and Central in Illinos on the border with Iowa- even closer. Hey, do you think Kara likes redheads?

Aces and eights are the deadman's hand in poker. So named becuase Wild Bill Hitchock was holding black aces and black eights in his hand when he was shot from behind; no one is sure of what the kicker was, but the best bet is either the five of diamonds or the queen of clubs, based on what is in two musuems. Two pairs isn't a horrible hand, but you can do a lot better- I would fold or bluff like mad. And some people have a house rule that the deadman's hand is the worst hand, But it is always a bad omen.


	7. Accepting

The Last Dance   
By Ironraven 

--- Metropolis 

The solitary figure approached the statue. It wasn't an odd sight to see, not at the empty graves of two of Earth's heroes. But the time of the night was strange, as was the familiar, almost casual way the visitor moved. Most were reverent, shy, even a little nervous. That members of the Justice League could die was like a slap in the face with a dead fish, a brutal reminder of thier own mortality. This one knew but didn't care about this. He knew things, people. 

"Good evening, Diana, I hope I'm not interrupting. Hi, Bruce. I thought since I was in Metropolis, I would give you an update." Dick Greyson knelt next to the empty crypt of Batman. "Alfred has the suit ready, so I guess Nightwing will be going into retirement. Tim's not sure when he'll take that name, but I think he had planned on it happening someday. Clark goes back to Smallville tomorrow, I drove him down so he could get some things from his apartment. I was surprised, he asked Lois to meet us there. I guess he's letting her in on his secret. He's getting better. He is going to have a daily session with Leslie over the phone. 

"Bruce, Clark asked if he could leave his suit at the Cave. I guess Superman is retiring to. I don't know if the League still be here in a year. Wally's working on his own again; he's been everywhere. I never figured he'd be a leader, but he is. If what we are building becomes as organized as the League, he'll be a core member. His reputation have pulled a lot of nervous people into the fold. He's had to grow up a lot the past few weeks, to, and it looks good on him. He and Kara work well together; Smallville really isn't that far from Central. They've already backed each other up several times. 

"I'm not sure how much more there is to tell. Tim's got the West Coast sewn up. He and Starfire went up to Alaska yesterday, they took down Icepick with the help of some local named Lupine. That is the last of Doctor Freeze's goon squad. We are growing quickly, Bruce; every day, there is another name on our list of good guys. We are going to need a name some day, but it can wait. Right now, we just getting to know each other. There is a conference in Kasnia tomorrow, seems like everyone from England to the Urals will be attending. Queen Audrey sends her thanks for everyone's contact methods." 

Dick shook his head, unsure of what the future held. "Tommorrow night, you will rise from the dead. If you scared criminals before, they will know terror." 

--- Elsewhen 

"So what you are telling me is that you started building a time machine, and... what? You got bored?" 

"It isn't that easy, Diana." Savage looked resigned as he sat down, perching on the edge of the console. "The power requirements are beyond what my solar steam generator can handle." 

Bruce brushed his hand over the surface of a panel, looking at the schematic etched on the surface. "What were you planning on using?" 

"A zero point generator. I used to have one, but... I lost it." The self-effacing, embarrassed smile returned to the immortal's mind. 

A raised eyebrow showed Bruce's disbelief. "How do you misplace an artificial sun?" 

"It was stolen by a group of roach creatures during a food raid. They made an utter shambles of my test area." Savage rested his chin on his fist, tapping his finger against his cheek. "Without someone to watch my back, I wasn't able to safely go after it. They use it to heat their nest. And I never really felt the need to make another." 

"How long would that take?" 

Savage thought back, looking up at the ceiling. "About 60 years" 

Diana scowled deeply. "Then I guess we just need to raid them; do you know where it is?" 

"I'm not sure, actually." Savage turned, looking at a wall, presumably in the direction of the bugs' colony. "The might have lost it in a raid. It could be in Africa by now. But that isn't very far, these days." 

"What do you mean? I've been to Africa and-" 

"Diana, you came through the Neo-Pangeic Mountains. You arrived in Africa." 

"So you reversed continental drift as well?" Bruce's voice was a growl though clenched teeth. 

_Would it help if I said I was sorry?_

--- Watchtower 

As the Watchtower circled the Earth silently John and Shayera sat on the bench in the observation lounging, watching the world go round. The halls of the station were loud with emptiness. With the bizarre, and often broken, internal clocks of it's occupants, the Tower usually had somekind of background noise. Now it was just them and J'onn, who was meditating. 

"Maybe the dream really was too good to be true. It's been what, three years?" John looked down at the ring on his hand. "Maybe Flash is right. Maybe it is time to pull the plug." 

Tracing the outline of the Nordic coast with her eyes, Shayera's lips were tight. "Or maybe we could work it out. We are stronger together. You and I are the ones with the most offworld experience, we've both seen things that would punch through the League like a piece of paper. It's only a matter of time before one comes to Earth, they need us." 

"It is only a matter of time before some else dies." John slipped the ring off his finger, his eyes returning to the chocolate shade of his birth as he rolled it in his fingers. So small, yet so destructive. The power was almost too much for him at times like these. "Look at us, Shay. Flash has quit, and J'onn is talking about going to Mars to meditate. That leaves us to start rebuilding. If we can- did you see the news out of Midway last night?" 

"No, what happened?" 

"Mace called in Flash for a chemical leak. Along the way, the kid must have paused to call for backup. Supergirl showed up, and it looks like if the situation had gone on longer, she wouldn't have been the only one. Those two have been working together a lot. All the independents, they are talking. They've got it covered. They don't _need_ us." 

She breathed out, gently, slowly, before speaking in a soft voice. "John, if we aren't needed here any more, there is always the stars. Lots of places we could go." 

"Have we been talking about the League, or us?" John turned to face her, thinking back to what he had almost said last time they sat here like this. 

Her hands reached out, closing over his, the ring still between them. "Lets talk about us." 

"You want me to run away with you? I can't do that? Earth needs us." 

"Earth has it's heroes. More today than yesterday." She lifted one hand to his face, gently gripping his chin between her thumb and forefinger, letting his jaw rest on her half-closed fist. "Your duty is to dozens of worlds, John, not just the world of your birth. Earth is like home to me now, to. Even if we leave, I want to come back to visit." 

He felt trapped by her eyes, not only seeing them, but feeling their pressure on his pupils. "So, you want to roam the stars looking for trouble? As partners." 

She smiled gently. "'Partners' has a lot of meanings." She lifted one of his hands in hers, letting her fingers slide between his with her calloused palm on the back of his. She leaned her head back, using both their hands to push her helmet up, letting it fall on the thick carpeting behind them. "I want you to see me for a change. I want you to see Shayera, not 'Hawkgirl'." 

He felt his pulse quicken, seeing her face for the first time. The auburn strands were flat, pressed down by the near steady pressure of the helm. An errant lock of them slid down across her face, softening her appearance even more. He realized that he had forgotten to breath, and drew in a hasty breath before speaking again."I thought there would be a broken nose under that mask. I'm glad there isn't. 

"So you've been thinking about me?" Shey pressed her cheek gently into against his palm as she smiled. John had never been hard to read, but she could read his throughts even more clearly now. They were what she had hoped they would be, they matched hers. 

"Hmm-hmmm..." Tilting their head together, they kissed, softly, slowly, gently. They were stronger together than alone. Together, they could do anything. 

--- Elsewhen 

Diana dropped the reigns on her mount. She and Bruce had ridden out, scouting for the telltale signs on the generator. They had had to wonder far afield to find it, but they had. Hopefully, during the trip to get Savage, the thing hadn't been stolen again. Setting foot on the dusty ground, she frowned. This place felt familiar. 

Bruce tied his mount to an outcropping of granite next to her's. He ran though the check of his weapons. He had spent several days in Savage's workshop, crafting new batarangs and his other tools, working from memory. His voice was soft as he surveyed the sides of the mound. "That feeling again?" 

"Yeah, it is." She lifted the shield and sword she had hung from her saddle. "Savage, where are we?" 

Vandel looked around, then closed his eyes, thinking. A laser pistol was holstered on his hip, a second in a shoulder holster, with a number of power packs on his belt. After a moment, he spoke softly. "I think we are some where in the old Mediterranean, possibly in the Adriatic. Why?" 

"I don't know, it feels familiar." She pointed up at an outcropping. "The side entrance we spotted is there." 

With that last word, they moved towards the entrance. Bruce had suggested he go first, but she squashed the idea instantly. With sword and shield, she was better suited for finding a surprised bug. She wasn't as comfortable with having Savage in the back, but his weapons could shoot past her and Bruce, or burn the legs off massed attackers from the rear. 

Slowly they slipped deeper into the mound, illuminated by glowing fungi. Unlike the arid land outside, the hive was humid, sticky. They had seen several bugs, they had not been seen. Savage had warned them that most of the roachbeetles they found would be simple workers. It was only the warriors they really had to worry about. As they started to cross a bridge, they heard a clicking hoot from an alcove above. 

A steel blade sank into the chitin around the junction of the bug's thorax and head, silencing it quickly. Bruce grunted softly- the balance had been off. Diana picked up the pace, not wanting to stuck on the bridge when more bugs showed up, Bruce right on her heals. Savage paused for a moment, still surprised at the skill of the throw, before he realized he was about to be left behind. Just a few feet into the passage on the other side of the bridge, they came to a split in the tunnel. 

"OK, Mr. Wizard, which way do we go?" Bruce listened to the scuttling and scurrying in both sides. Either one sounded like a bad idea. 

"Left." The answer came not from Savage, but from Diana. Bruce turned his head to look at her, the question of how she knew dieing on his lips when he saw her face. She looked as positive of that as he had ever seen her. "We go left." Without any further preamble, she headed off down the left passage. Bruce looked back at Savage, who could only shrug. 

The deeper they went, the more bugs they found. In twos and threes the giant insects came, and in threes and fours they were cut down. "We must be getting close," shouted Bruce as he threw an explosive batarang in to an overhead alcove, just before he flung up his arm to cover his face from the spray of flesh and ooze. 

Diana grunted as she thrust the steel of her blade into the gullet of the roach in front of her. "What makes you say that?" She slashed backhanded cleaving the compound eye of a bug. The feeling of familiarity was growing. These tunnels reminded her of the tunnels under her home island. 

The laser pistol in Savage's right hand popped and hissed as it tried cool down, as he fired the one in his left rapidly, mechanically sweeping his arm side to side. Every burst of energy lanced through a bug, the pressures created by the waters of their tissue flashing into steam cracking and shattering their exoskeletons, blowing chunks from their bodies. He shouted back over his shoulder as he holstered the pistol in his right hand, the lens assembly finely cool enough to do so, as he swapped in a new powerpack. "I think they are getting more stubborn." 

--- Wayne Manor 

The old room had remained unused for years, but Alfred always made sure it was ready for use. Dusted, the plant watered as needed, clean sheets every week. Spare clothes, purchased by the old butler for the eventuality of a return, were in the dresser and closet, with a toothbrush and razor in the adjoining bathroom. 

The bedstand had been polished until it gleamed. The dark wood reflected the glow of the flashing LED screen in time with the insistent chirping of the cell phone. A muscular, but nearly vampire pale, arm snaked out from under the covers, seeking the offending device. Finding it, the arm retreated under the covers dragging its prey back into it's lair. 

"Nngello?... Hi, Tim... Get used to it- time zones. What's up?... One of your locals was trying to broker a deal out here?.. Ah, yeah, dark matter is a little hard to find. Did he have a name?.. Thanks- oh, and next time, send email, would you? I was in the middle of a good dream... You did? Great... Yeah, I'll tell them..." 

The heavy velour blanket rolled back, long black hair spread across a pillow underneath. Dick tossed the cell phone back on the nightstand, lettign it bounce against the other one there. The angularly handsome face rolled to the side, looking to the other pillow. "Tim says hi, and that we might have a new problem in town. I guess the Titans payed a visit to one of the local mad scientists." 

Barbara rolled her eyes. "Did I hear you say dark matter? What was he going to do with that?" 

"I got no idea. But he was supposedly going to be coming into town a few days, try to grab it before it goes to Boston by armoured car. He emailed me the details." 

With a groan, the redhead kicked the covers off and rolled out of bed. The alarm clock said it was nearly seven. They had gotten four hours of sleep- more than enough after a quite patrol. "Come on, Batman, out of bed. If that stuff is any where near Gotham, and the containment field goes, how much do you want to bet it will be felt in Metropolis." 

--- Elsewhen 

Kicking the latest roach to try to stop her out of her way, Diana stepped into a blindingly lit chamber. And froze. 

The floor of the chamber that all the twists and turns led to was almost perfectly smooth, the walls perfectly formed in the eyes of humanity. A remainder of a column still stood, a scorch mark from centuries of fire still staining the floor. Past that lay a great pit, the light flooding up from it. _Themescara. The temple._

"Savage, down," barked Bruce, as he drew a handful of explosive batarangs, and threw them over the head of the now prone immortal. The treble blast shredded their perusers, and created an barrier over which others would have to climb. "Diana, what is it? Why are you stopping?" 

Her face lost in wonderment, disconnected, she turned, her hands spread. "Bruce, look." 

As she spoke, he saw movement overhead. Shouting a warning over her words, he lunged forward to grab her. But the bug was faster. It leapt at her, slamming it's bulk into her side, throwing her over the edge. With a howl, Bruce swung his leg up, into the underside of the jaw of the beast, snapping it's head back terminally. Then he was surrounded by the swarm, as he lay about with hands and feet. Everywhere they touched, things broke, but not before the bugs could get their serrated legs claws on him, ripping his armour and the flesh below is painful, messy, but shallow wounds. He was much more concerned about the crushing jaws. 

Savage's pistols were constantly hissing and popping with heat as he fired over and over, dropping them still glowing into the holsters to reload one handed. He thrust one, muzzle first, into the eye of a bug, the scream of water flashing into steam, seeking any way out, including the passage of the optic nerve to the brain, mixing with his own bellow as the beast bit at his leg. He ignored the pain of the injuries, his flesh would heal soon enough. Besides, he wasn't sure if it mattered. He doubted even he would survive being digested. 

--- _Gotham, Jim Gordon's office _

Commissioner Gordon's coffee cup dropped onto his desk with a harsh thunk, the sole mouthful of cold brew sloshing against the porcelain. With an unsteady hand he stabbed at the button on the speakerphone, calling out to his assistant in a raspy voice. "Hold my calls." 

Batman, a new Batman, stepped through the open window, the wind billowing the curtains around him. This one was slimmer, built for speed, with the grace of a dancer, all arms and legs. The exposed jaw was more angular, more youthful. He wasn't as massive, or as physically powerful. But the eyes, the eyes behind the mask were the same. Scarred, hard, cold. Eyes that could make a hardened killer sob like a child with just a few whispered words, or lead men on a two way trip on the River Styx. 

Behind him, Batgirl slid into the room, grinning softly. "How does he look, Dad?" 

Gordon blinked, shaking his head. "Like a ghost. You just about scared the life of me. We found your package this morning; they've plead to everything." 

"Good. The more people think I'm dead, the better." The new Batman's lips smiled coldly. The voice was the same, but different. The same inflection, the same precise tone dragged from the neitherworld. But it wasn't the same powerful bass- this one was richer, from the upper edge of the tenor range. "They will get even more scared, make mistakes." 

"You even sound like him." Gordon gripped his coffee mug tightly. "You aren't here for a social call, are you." It was a statement, not a question. 

Batgirl slipped a mini-CD from her belt, dropping it on her father's desk. "Someone is planning on bringing dark matter into town, and we think someone else is planning on stealing it." 

"What is 'dark matter'?" When the Commissioner tapped the button on his CD drive, his computer obediently stuck out out it's lounge. 

"A collapsed star. A cubic inch of it weighs several tons. Nothing escapes from it, not even light." 

As the pdf opened on Gordon's screen, he closed his eyes. The new voice of Batman was going to take some getting used to. It wouldn't be hard- doom and gloom had come from the old one to. "Is that anything like a black hole?" 

--- Elsewhen 

It had been 30 seconds since Savage stopped making noise, 73 since Diana had fallen. Of all his instincts, Bruce had never really noticed the accuracy of his internal clock. Right now, he really wished it wasn't ticking so loud. He had lashed out, again and again. It was impossible to keep his footing, his boots sliding in the ichor that ran in a flood over the floor. He had studied floor fighting with the best. 

He jabbed the point of his last batatarang up in the shoulder joint of the bug over him, before pushing it into the one next to him, when he felt a set of jaws on his left foot. This was not how he had planned on dieing, not like this, not as insect chow. He kicked out desperately, adrenalin pounding through his veins, feeling things crack in one foot and under the other. Despite that, he couldn't see the ceiling any more, they had him. _Thus it ends._

He resigned himself to the inevitable when he saw a light, blinding to his gloom adjusted eyes, like a star seen close up. thorough the eyewatering brilliance, he saw something gleaming, thrusting, swinging, and a voice calling to him. As the bugs cleared, and his adapted to the light, he could see her standing over him. Her bracers and tiara glittered in the light of an artificial sun, as she pushed a sword into his hands. "Are you just going to sit there, or do you want to live forever?" 

Then she was gone. The shadows told him where she was as they sprinted and jumped, as he forced himself to his feet, biting down on the pain. He slashed with the sword at anything that had more than two legs and got close enough, thrusting when they got too close. Within seconds, not a bug remained alive in the chamber. He found her where she was digging into a pile of spare insect parts, the generator at her side. "What happened?" 

"This is the temple of Hera, on Themscara." Without even grunting, she tossed aside a the thorax of a bug, a piece about half the size of a small car. "There he is. Savage, can you move?" 

The shattered body of Vandal Savage twitched in a way that would have sickened a trauma surgeon. His body had been battered and torn, most of his major bones broken. But his eyes moved in a way that said he was fully aware of what was happening, and where he was. He used them to motion to the ceiling. Above them, the statue of Hera that had graced her temple for mellenia had be embedded into the cavern walls. She was the worse for wear, but not quite as bad as Savage was. Her smile, fair, but harsh, was still clear through the years. Bruce and Diana both looked, until the snap of a laser pistol got their attention. 

Savage didn't look a lot better, but he could use one arm, and his voice. A fresh bug lay near him, steaming gently at each end. "A little help would be nice." 

Bruce pulled the hide cape from his shoulders; Diana still wore his normal one. He stuffed the body and limbs of Savage into the sling created be tyeing the corners together. "Diana, can you get us out of here?" 

"I think so. These things can't fly, can they?" 

Savage's voice bubbled out of the bag that Bruce hung onto, but was unable to carry with his foot the way it was. "Not that I know of." Without further ado, Diana told Bruce to hang onto Savage, and lifted them both in one hand, the zero point generator under the other. She put that arm up to sheild her face as best as she could with it as she zipped over the tops of, or simply through, the bugs and thier walls. After several minutes, she had reached the opening they had used to enter the mound. 

Diana set them down, with Savage becoming much more insistent that he really needed more room. She looked to the slope, to the remains of their dragonfly-like mounts. It was obvious that the roachbeetles had been here first, but there was no signs of them. When she looked back, she saw Bruce assembling something from the pouches on his belt. She grabbed his arm when she realized what it was. "You can't!" 

"Diana, it is the only way. We need to stop for a minute, and there are more of bugs on the way." 

"But-" 

"I'm sorry, Diana, this is the only way." With his Batman face and voice on, Bruce was unreadable. He softened when he saw the dismay in her eyes. He tossed the small charge as deep as he could into the hive, silently counting as he stepped out of the direction of the tunnel mouth. The blast smothered his words, but his lips were clear. "Hera, forgive us." 

When the dust settled, they returned to where they had left Savage. He was scarred, but those would pass in a few hours. He had wrapped the fur around himself like a kilt, holding it closed with the gunbelt he had started with. All other remains of his black suit had been destroyed. "Diana, it is good to see you back to normal. Can I get a lift?" 

--- Kent Farm, Smallville 

Shuffling his feet nervously, Wally knocked at the door to the farmhouse. It was odd- he'd run past here several times, no more than twenty miles away, and he'd never known this was Clark's childhood home. It really was a small world. 

An older woman stepped up to the screen door, squinting against the sunlight behind him. "Hello, may I help you?" 

"I hope so, Ma'am. My name is Wally; I'm a friend of Clark's." Wally wiped his forehead from the heat. "I was hoping he was around." 

"Come in, please." Martha pushed the screen door open, inviting him in. "Clark hasn't said much about what happened, he's been through a lot." 

"I know Mrs. Kent. I was there for a lot of it." Wally shrugged inside. _She can be trusted, she's kept his secret all these years._ Just as he was about to speak, a set of soft foot fall from the stairway ended with a rush towards him and arms thrown around his torso. 

"Wally, I was hoping you'd come." Kara released him before things started to break, truly glad that he was here. "Clark has a phone session with Doctor Thomspon this morning. It might be better if he rested for a few hours after before you talked to him." 

"Uhm, yeah. I probably want him in a good mood when I apologize." Martha snorted, before going back to whatever she had been doing. A friend who knew the truth had to be from the League, and she wanted nothing to do with them, even if Kara did. 

Wally scratched at the back of his head nervously, watching the farm woman walk away. "So... Is it ok if I just hang here with you until he is ready?" 

"Sure. You can give me a hand. We need to get the last cutting of hay in before it starts to rain again." She guided him outside, grinning. "Don't' worry, it's already bailed." 

--- Watchtower 

"Good skies, J'onn. We'll be around when we can." Hawkgirl spoke into the communications headset. 

"And you, Sheyera. I will think of you both." J'onn's voice came from the speakers. The Javelin slide effortlessly though space, turning gracefully away from the planet below. "It has been a privilege and an honor, John." 

"You're sure you won't change your mind? The three of us make a pretty good team." John Stewart had said good bye to friends and comrades before. Too many of them, he never saw again. He took strength from the warmth and weight of Shayera's arm pressing against his, their hands together. John had to ask the question, even if he knew the answer already. 

"No, John, I must go home." In their minds' eyes, they could see the heavy brow creased with sorrow. It was a good face, but always sad, always alone. "I must remember who I am again. Until we are together again, my friends, be well." 

--- 

**Author's notes:**   
One upon a time, Africa and North America were touching. If Savage's gravity weapon could trigger a radical tectonic slide, they could do so again. 

About Savage's holstered reloads, it works with autoloading pistols. Fire yourself dry, pop the empty. Drop the pistol into the holster, slide still back. Get a fresh mag in. Draw, bang the baseplate on your thigh (or chest if from a shoulder rig), hit the slide release. You are up and hot with one hand about twice as fast as normal, but if you have only one hand free... It should work with an energy weapon, if it is designed right. Problem is, most energy weapons would theoretically get HOT! As in branding iron hot. 

When he is dug out, I see Savage being in about the same shape Bishop was after the queen was kicked off the _Sulaco._

Most farms use large, round bales of hay these day, about the size of a small car. But if the Kents are still doing small bales, then enhanced speed will get a lousy job over and done with quicker. Besides, after you get it on the wagon, you have to get it into the barn. Wally, Kara, hay... Yeah, right, in his dreams. 

Thanks to Redneckgoddess for catching two noticable oops in two chapters. 


	8. Recovering

The Last Dance   
by Iron Raven 

--- Space, near Earth 

Shayera looked back on the Earth, one hand on the green bubble of energy. From here, the Watchtower was just a large mote, gleaming with reflected light above a mottled ball of white over blue-green. They had powered down everything but the computer and the most basic life support. She and John had packed his apartment the night before. The few boxes of personal items fit easily into the empty closet of his quarters on the station. They had everything they thought they would need; it wasn't much, just a backpack of medical supplies and food, some changes of clothing, a sleeping bag. John had planned on staying in subspace for only a few hours, stopping for a few days at each inhabited planet nearby. 

J'onn was on Mars, meditating. They had left a message with the computer on the Javelin. They had given him a rough idea of their itinerary, and an invitation that if he wanted to try to find them. Secretly, she felt it was as likely as getting Flash to forgive them. They had left the other Javelin on the station, and had emailed him their plans. She felt like they deserved his anger, but hopefully that too would pass. 

She had done the one thing she needed to do. She had sent a message to Thanagar. She had forged a final report to her superiors. _Nuclear exchange. Background radiation extremely high, Earth unsuitable for operations. Use alternative site. Do not attempt recovery, firing self destruct. Lt. Sheyera Hol._ Then she took her mace to the electronics of her micro-transmitter, fusing and crushing all of it's components. A lie, hopefully her last. Hopefully, her people would survive. 

"You're quiet." 

"Just thinking about the last time I saw Thanagar, that's all." She leaned back against the wall of the bubble, and against him. "I should warn you of something." He raised a quiet, questioning eyebrow as their bubble slipped from this reality, into subspace, eating distance faster than light. She looked at his face, the concern, the trust in his eyes, and she found she couldn't say what she wanted, not yet. Hopefully, she would be able to do so. Some day. "John, my people lay eggs. If that happens, don't take anything I say about you personally, ok?" She leaned her head down, her cheek on his shoulder, nuzzling into him. By the time he recovered from her statement, she was asleep. He had the same habit- as a rule, emergencies in space either gave you warning or killed you instantly, and watching subspace could be a little hard on the stomach. The ring was aware enough to wake him if it ran into trouble, and smart enough to dodge any debris in the way. He kissed the top of her head, and joined her in dreams. 

--- Elsewhen 

The moon was nearly full, watching the clouds play tag on the wind. She was not alone in looking after them. A single figure stood on a balcony, looking up at the stars as if for the first time, or the last. They had made a test of the portal this morning, and it had held steady. Bruce and Diana had let Vandel cook for them one last time, while they prepared to return. Tonight was a last chance to relax before going back, if the tests tomorrow worked as planned. 

With the notes of Vandel's piano behind her, Diana crossed the floor of Bruce's quarters in silence. She stood watching Bruce's back for a long time, not wanting to disturb him, but needing to at the same time. 

"Tomorrow, I put my mask back on, and become the Batman again." Bruce decided to break the silence during a pause in the music, knowing Vandel was selecting his next piece from the patiently recreated stack of sheet music. He wasn't totally sure how long she had been behind him. "Tomorrow, we go back to being you, and me; no more us." 

Three long steps took Diana to his side. She turned him to face her, to see the hurt in his eyes. To others, the pain might have been hidden, but not to her, not now. In the months since they had been thrown forward in time, she had learned how to read him. In her own eyes anger and hurt swam in equal parts, as ever muscle in her body tensed in fear. 

Bruce looked away, not wanting to see the result of his words on her face. He had come to love her during the months of searching for the zero point device, and the weeks of getting the time machine working. There had been nothing to hide behind. Without a world that would smear their faces on tabloids, without maniacs and disasters to attend to, this was the first change he'd had to have a normal life. How many years had Bruce been the act for the Batman? Would he be able to resume his normal life back in their time, or would Batman only be an act for Bruce now? Would the two beings who shared his body and soul be able to survive if the Batman became the lesser. "Because it changes things. People can use you to hurt me back then." 

She took his chin in her palm, forcing him to look at her. She snapped at him, wounded by the weakness, the selfishness of his excuse, as if she was some simple peasant girl. "Or use you to hurt me. I'm almost immortal, remember." He started to speak, but her fingers still held his jaw, silencing him, a fierce look in her eyes."I'm not some delicate flower, Bruce. And don't tell me you work alone, you've never been alone. How many times did you tell me about Alfred and Leslie and Dick and Barbara and Tim? You'd be dead by now if it wasn't for them. They'd be dead if it wasn't for you. I'd be dead if it wasn't for you. You trust them, love them- try trusting me." 

"It wouldn't work." Unable to look at her, and unable to look away, Bruce closed his eyes tightly. He had loved Selena, and she still embraced a life of crime, even if she wasn't a violent criminal. He could have married Talia, but she had been loyal to her father, turning to terrorism for their cause. And Andrea, he could have shared his secret with her, had a life with her, even his other side, but she had chosen her path as well. A nagging voice told him that he was a corrupting influence on people, that he destroyed every life he touched. He had to look at her, to force himself to meet her eyes. She had to see his resolve. 

Diana snorted, a hard sound of derision. "You aren't always right, you know. Stop running from happiness, Bruce, before you die alone. Really alone." Her voice had softened again, soothingly, as she hugged him, clinging to him. He infuriated her like no one else ever had, but she wouldn't let him hide in a cave like a wounded beast, waiting to die. "By Hera, why do you have to be so gallant? " 

He couldn't break away, he couldn't will his body to move. In the long run, his will was the weaker, he knew that. That was why he lived in a world of shadows and masks, while she bared her face to the sun. "I'll try." Meek words in a meek voice, the Dark Knight allowed the Princess of the Amazons win. The one woman he couldn't run from, and wouldn't run from him. Someone he could be weak before; it was alien, disturbing, and not unpleasant. 

After a long time, the moon low in the sky, Savage began to play again. "I recognize this piece." Diana kissed his lips, briefly. The last time she had heard it was long ago, in Paris, before gunmen broke up the party. "We started to dance to this before, Mr. Wayne." 

The last of the clouds cleared from the face of the moon as they started to dance, finishing something they had started millennial ago. The first dance on Earth in centuries. 

--- Jump City 

The island was crowded with party goers. It had been Terra's idea to have a cookout for all of those heroes who worked the Pacific coast of the Americas. Even Raven thought it would be a good idea. The Titans had worked with many of them already, but not all, and most didn't know each other. Some had declined, but that wasn't unexpected; there was still about a hundred superbly trained and gifted people around, gossiping, playing, trading war stories and showing off techniques and toys. Young and old mixed freely, everyone having added to the potluck. 

Cyborg had insisted on manning the grill, helped at various times by Wildcat and others. Upwind of the grill, Beast Boy was watching with rapt attention as a fellow vegan showed off what could really be done with tofu. A super powered volleyball game ranged over the entire top of the Tower, the poor ball being punished into a hemisphere as Star sent it flying in a boys-vs-girls game. The boys were regretting having proposed these terms. 

It had only been a month since the first serious attempts to organize those gathered here, but it didn't feel it. It seemed as if it was only natural that information be shared, and that they would work together as needed, as natural as if they had always done so. 

--- Kent Farm 

"Kara, your water is boiling." 

"Uh? Oh! Thanks Uncle Johnathan." Kara Kent hopped off the glider seat, sliding past her uncle as he moved from the doorway. 

Johnathan stepped closer, sitting on the edge of the railing. He glanced at his adopted son, and at the younger, redheaded man who had been sharing the bench swing with Kara. "Wally, Clark and I were talking about you earlier." 

Wally West felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. _Uh oh_

"It's ok, Wally. Kara's a big girl, she can shoot you down on her own." Clark smiled gently, but it still brought pain to his face. There were lines there that hadn't been there two months ago, deep ones. He felt old, even older than he had after Darkseid's control of him. He had known that there would be a time to hang up the cape, and this was it. "I know you were living on the Wayne Foundation grants." 

"Here, son." Johnathan held a slim wad of folded bills out to the man most knew as the Flash. 

"Guys, I can't take-" 

"Wally, you are among friends. And you've been working on the farm for a week now. This is what you've earned." Johnathan leaned forward, tucking the money into Wally's shirt pocket. "A man gets paid for what he does. Don't argue with us." 

Kara stepped through the door before her aunt, her fingers looped through the handles of three mugs of tea. "So, what's the answer?" 

Numbly, Wally accepted a mug from Kara. His mind was whirling, he was more than a little lost. "Answer?" 

Martha leaned back against the railing with a chuckle, next to her husband. "You didn't ask him yet?" Despite her initial distrust of the redhead, she had come to like Wally. While he might have been inept in the ways of farm life, he was a fast learner. His mind had surprised her almost as much as his skills as a cook, and Clark's forgiveness had been heartfelt. He complained less about certain chores than Clark had once, that was for sure. 

"Wally, you need a job. I'm offering you one." Johnathan held out his hand. 

"We are about 30 minutes from Central and Keystone, at my top speed." Kara looked over the rim of her mug, expectantly. "You could commute." 

Clark smiled again, with a little less pain this time. "And Dad doesn't mind if you need to take off, unlike a regular boss." 

"Boys, I think you are scaring him. I think he needs a little time." Martha rested her hand on the back of her husband's arm, the other on her son's shoulder. 

--- Stonegate Prison, Gotham City 

Clyde Parker watched the normally empty exercise yard with annoyance. It wasn't his normal shift. Instead, he'd been called in for a special duty. For the next week, everyone would be pulling double shifts, and there would be no days off. Even thought it meant a lot over time, double pay plus graveyard shift bonus, it still raised hell with his plans. He planted his hands on the console that controlled the cameras and lights of the watchtower that was his station. "So why do we have to have these freaks here? Why couldn't Stryker's hold them." 

Senior Officer Bonnie Barrow stared at the young man in equal annoyance. Short and slight, she looked more like a kindergarten teacher than a prison guard, but she could could bang heads together better than most, even if she did have to knock most prisoners off their feet first so she could reach. "They aren't freaks, or monsters, they are prisoners. Treat them with respect, or you will get sloppy and they will take advantage of it. And if you had been paying attention at the briefing, you'd know something is wrong with the water at Strykers. We get some of their special crimes wing, the Feds get the rest." She looked down at the transport being unloaded. Parasite looked up, his unnaturally purple skin seeming to glow in the harsh lights. Officer Barrow stepped back with a shudder. It had felt like he touched her with those eyes. _Freak._

--- Gotham Harbour 

"This isn't hap'nin'. You're dead." A pale, scared man stepped backwards quickly, crossing himself over and over. "I watched 'em vaporize you. You're DEAD!" 

"They sent me back." Sulfurous smoke seeming to cling to him, Batman strode closer, slowly, patiently, like a force of nature. Tall, almost skeletally slender, the cape was shorter than before, ragged, as if burned by fire. His eyes glowed slightly with a pale, ghostly fire. "Answer my question: Who wants the dark matter." 

The fence looked about, for signs on aid, but his bodyguards had already been laid low. His eyes returned to the ghost in front of him, and his lips moved, but no air would pass through them. He felt the cold, strong fingers close on his shirt front, chilling him through the material of his shirt. That was enough reality for the fence as his eyes rolled up into his head, showing only whites as we went limp. 

"Not again." Batman dropped the unconscious criminal in disgust, and cuffed him quickly before frisking his potential source of information. He pressed his hand to his ear, waiting for the click of the scrambled circuit opening. "Batgirl, you were right, we need to not use the smoke screen." 

The reply came not from the communications headset built into his mask, but from about ten feet above him. He looked up just as Batgirl triggered the release on her grapple gun, and landed on her feet. "It was a great idea, but you are just scaring them to death." 

Both headsets crackled the communications units shifted to the police frequencies. The automated voice spoke calmly, much more calmly than any human would, as it announced a break out attempt in progress at Stonegate Prison, Special Security Wing. 

"They are getting the transfers from Strykers tonight." Batgirl muttered, half to herself, as they broken into a run towards the door. Batman nodded, as he pressed his hand to the communications control again. "Alfred, did you copy that police broadcast?" 

There was a pause, before an English voice came over the air. "Yes, sir, I've already started calling." 

--- Elsewhen 

Dressed in their costumes again, Bruce and Diana had finished their preparations for their return. The portal had remained stable under an empty load for 30 seconds this morning, and once again this afternoon. Tonight was the voyage to yesterday. Bruce and Savage weren't positive to the date, but the passage should dump them less than a month before the old Savage tried to get the dark matter. A past that thought they were dead. 

"Everything is ready. I hope you stop me." 

"We will." Diana stepped up her former enemy. She hugged him, like she would have Superman or Flash if they were in the same position. "I promise." 

Caped and cowled, Bruce shook Vandel's hand firmly. "I hope you can find peace, my friend. Take your ship into the stars, you've served your time." 

Savage turned to the control panel, throwing the last switches. "Stand on the platform." He was glad he could hide his face from these people. He was sending them back to stop the man he was. Was he committing suicide or saving his soul by this act? Would he come to know the fullness of his crimes as he had, or would he forever be a wild beast tearing at the flesh of civilization? His voice was unexpectedly tight as he spoke. "Portal opening in six, five, four, three, two, one..." 

With a whooshing pop, the temporal vortex opened, the visible portion swirling with the energies needed to create this insult to the universe. The light of the zero point generator dimmed slightly as they jumped into the portal. He was glad they hadn't said anything more, because he would not have been able to answer them. The light of the generator dimmed as his silent count reached seventy. _Seventy seconds, they should be there._

With a tiny crack, the portal closed, taking the last of the generator's power with it. The only light in the room was the sparks of components overloading with residual energy and the tiny illumination of bus bars heated to a glowing blue. 

--- Kent farm, Smallville 

His head swimming, Wally felt like had mistaken a strong wine for grape juice and gulped. As an orphan, he had had few chances, with fewer helping hands. It had gotten him into college, and was why he helped at the orphanage when he could. But this, this was too much to fast. "But, why me?" 

"Because you are a friend, and you need a hand." Clark leaned forward, his eyes silently pleading with the Flash. "It doesn't have to be forever, just until you are stable." 

Wally was broken from his reverie by the chirping of his phone in his jeans pocket. Moment's later, Kara's did the same thing. She closed her phone with an eager expression on her face. "Sorry folks, duty calls." 

The youngest people on the porch dashed inside at full speed, dismaying the cat who had been sitting in Clark's lap greatly. Before the fout legged resident of the Kent home could complain, they were back, suited up. It was Wally who spoke first. "It's Gotham, something big. We could use the help, Big Guy." 

The Clark looked at them both, his features melting into sadness, adrift in a sea of doubt. "I, I can't. I'm sorry." 

--- Stonegate Prison 

Senior Officer Barrow dove below the concrete halfwall of the observation tower, just in time to feel the heat of Volcana's blast on her back. "Parker, you still with me?" 

Her junior looked at her, an expression of blank terror on his face. This wasn't what he signed up for, he just needed the job. He had taken the job because of the benefits, they started at day one. That should have told him something. But he had his kids to support, even more than the judge had said he had to. He let out a high pitched scream when he felt the tower begin to vibrate like a telephone pole struck by a small car. He curled up into a fetal position, his face pressed to his knees and his hands protecting his neck. 

Barrow snarled, and risked drawing the fire of Volcana or one of the others to look over the edge, before she grabbed the smoldering remains of a high legged chair, and dropped it in the general direction of the inhuman criminal who had struck the tower. Kalibak looked up in the only direction the object that missed him widely could have come from, and grinned with joy. This jailbreak had just gotten more interesting. "At last, someone who will fight me!" 

The Demon Etrigan tapped on the shoulder of the cheered up villain. When the massive brute turned enough to see behind him, the ancient warrior didn't waste time, delivering pair of punishing jabs into his side. "Boo." 

Batman and Batgirl dropped from the sky, behind Deadshot and Shade, both armed with weapons seized from the guards. Dick's hand dropped knife-edged on Deadshot's wrist, the temporary lack of control causing him to drop the gas gun. With a grunt of pain, the assassin kicked out, using the energy of Batman's parry to bring him about further. 

Tossing aside the taser, it's single shot expended in a miss, Shade dropped into the low, long crouch of the crane stance in front of Batgirl. "They really do make Bats in all flavors. Try it, Red." Barbara snapped a kick towards his outstretched hand, letting him catch it so she could step up into his hand, her other boot catching the gaunt illusionist squarely on the tip of his chin. She didn't have time to follow through when she found herself literally swept off her feet. 

She found herself in a blur, the middle of it sheathed in red cloth. "Hi, Bats. Sorry it took so long, Supergirl isn't as fast as her cousin." Behind them, Volcana had loosed another column of flame, searing the concrete where Shade had been. The aristocratic thief was over Flash's other shoulder for a moment, before being dump without ceremony in a waste bin. 

"I heard that, mister!" Supergirl broke off from the position she'd held a third of the way across the country, neck-and-neck with the speedster, to deal with Volcana. 

With each passing second, more and more responded to the call, coming from Metropolis to Bludhaven. The Gotham Riot Squad waded into the fray alongside the likes of Steel and the Creeper. 

--- 

a passage of unplace, outside of normal timespace 

They didn't exist, not really, nothing did. Their eyes showed them a multicolored inkblot, rich with hues beyond human comprehension. To block it, they both closed their eyes tightly, somehow sensing the other beside them. 

Through his eyelids, Bruce's mind saw images, some horrible, some beautiful. Of him at different ages, showing him possible futures. One where he carried guns; others where he sat alone by the fireplace, old and frail. Of those who would take the legend of the Bat into the future, heroes and savages. Children, simultaneously his and not his. 

Diana saw similar images. Images of home and of Mansworld. Her hands, strong and young and graced with a ring, others old and twisted and bare. Of her mother, of the gods. Of Hades and her mother, images she silently screamed where a lie. Of her killing criminals, laughing with glee as her sword bit into their flesh. Of her weeping beside the graves of her friends, the only survivor. The dreams and the nightmares blended together as she tried to breath. 

Through the inhuman battering of touching all of time, of all possible times, they could sense a nearing of the end of their voyage. 

--- 

the west side of Qui-Tui'kth city, in the plains of the lesser continent of Ki'lit 

John Stewart cracked his eyes. It felt like his head was about to crack in two. "Gnnggg..." 

"Morning, sleepy head." Shayera stroked his forehead gently, running her fingers along his hairline, as she cradled his head in her lap. 

Flinching his eyes closed at the searing pain that the light brought, John's hand found her wrist, holding her to him, savoring her scent. He was also able to keep her finger tips from the molten heat of the crack on his head. "Did we win?" 

"Yes, we did." 

--- 

Stonegate Prison 

As the assembled heroes formed a perimeter, they looked at each other. This had been one of the largest attempts at a break out ever by supercriminals, and they had shut it down in less than an hour. They carried those who couldn't walk, and poked and prodded those who could, putting the inmates into their cells, as the warden walked up and down the halls, checking off names. Outside, the media menagerie was in full swing, being managed by Commissioner Gordon. The mass of costumed, socially accepted vigilantes reacted to the media as their personalities allowed, but even the most outgoing members of the assemblage might were restrained. This wasn't the time for comedy. Even those who's sanity was a vague rumor were acting professionally for once. 

That might have been why the crackling blue orb of light was reacted to as if it was a common occurrence. They were ready for anything as the remainder of them spilled out of the gates of the cell block as it grew larger. A darkness grew at the core of the energy, splitting into two silhouettes. And then, without any warning, it was gone, leaving the two figures several stories off the ground. One grabbed the other, and both sank slowly to the pavement, in the middle of the crowd. 

Batman looked around, as did Wonder Woman, slightly taken aback by the nature of the crowd around them. The silence lasted for several heart beats, before the yard of Stonegate Prison was filled with subdued, disbelieving utterances, from the holy to the blasphemous. 

The crowd parted slightly, allowing Batman and Batgirl through. Batman and Batman surveyed each other quietly at arms length. The blockier one spoke first: "Nice suit." 

"It looks better on you." Batman the Younger threw his arms around Batman the Elder, hugging him fiercely, not caring how much the show of emotion bothered his mentor. The Elder felt another pair of arms go around him from behind, effectively trapping him there. "What happened. We thought you were dead." 

Wonder Woman blushed slightly, looking away. Diana knew that Bruce really wouldn't have wanted this, but at the same time, it was what he needed. She only had a moment for that thought before being hugged by the Flash, who was laughing with joy as he spun her off her feet, a slightly hysterical edge in his voice. "I knew you two couldn't die. Bats is too mean, they had to send you back!" 

The crowd surged forward, the newsies blocked by a wall of humanity as the collected heroes wanted to be sure they were actually seeing what was before them. The babble of voices became deafening quickly, a mass of questions, war whoops and howls. After several minutes of this, a sharp, shrill whistle caught all their attention. 

Wonder Woman raised her voice. "Everyone, settle down. We will answer your questions when there is time." She and Batman quickly drew those they had worked with into a huddle, others repeating what they were hearing in soft whispers. They explained the nature of the potential emergency posed by the possibility of a dark matter device. They were also very taken aback when Batgirl told them they were already on the case. 

They were shocked by the answer to their next question, "Where's the League?" Flash cleared his throat before speaking. "I don't think it exists anymore. We've had some difficulties since you left." 

Barbara surveyed the crowd, looking for a face. "We need someone who can generate a magnetic field, where's Static?" When the young man levitated above the masses, she looked to her mentor. "I want to take Junior, Supergirl, Flash and Static to meet the transport. It is still in the middle of the ocean, but Savage is capable of anything. Maybe bring some extra muscle." With nods from Batman and Wonder Woman, she grabbed Batman the Younger by the arm ", Come on, Junior." 

The softly harsh voice of Etrigan crept through the crowd. "And you want us to find Savage?" 

Wonder Woman shook her head. "We don't have to find him; we know where he is. It's just going to take most of us to go get him." 

Only Batman didn't wonder about the slight sadness in her voice. 

**Author's Notes:**   
So, the League opens up before the Thanagarian Invasion? Maybe? What would that have been like? Maybe Shayera's duplicity would not have mattered as much, she might have been able to speak in her own defense before an international court. Or maybe a larger, more active League might have forced the Thanagarians go in guns blazing, and scorch the Earth from orbit? But wouldn't her message to them make the speculation moot? What would they do if they learned of her treason? 

As for the egg laying bit, that would explain some of the apparent pain resistance of Thanagarians, or at least the females. Owwwwwww! 

Image: Flash chewing on a strand of hay, with a beat up old John Deer cap on his head? Eey-yup, that thar be a disturbing image. 

I tossed in the bit on Gull Island because of the number of reviewers of the early chapters who wanted to see more of the Titans. Yes, I'm pandering the masses! I figure Terra's betrayal came just before the Thanagarian invasion, so she would be on the team right now. 

And yes, I know, having them dance to a song played by Savage, and having it be the one they were dancing to when his goons tried to grab Audrey is kind of hokey. Shoot me, I'm a romantic. Just remember, I shoot back. 


	9. Rebirth

--- Wayne Manor 

A cool breeze blew in off the sea, as the sun sank below the waves of the Atlantic. A few birds road the air, but none came close enough to hear the voices below them. 

The young redheaded man stared longingly at the fliers above him as he spoke ", So Savage could be a good guy? I don't get it. If he was a good person then, why is he at the bottom of a salt mine in Kasnia now?" 

"Because he was lonely. It drove him crazy." Bruce set his coffee down carefully. After a year without caffeine, it was potent. "It is the same thing that happened to Ras'a Guld." 

"Savage never told us what happened to him, did he?" Diana was just happy to be in something other than her uniform for a change. And under a blue sky. She never did adjust to the red light, even after all that time. Next to her, Bruce shook his head. 

"Savage is in that salt mine because we put him back there." Kara frowned into her coffee, still confused by the timing of things. "What I still don't understand how you two could have been gone for a year, and it was only two months for us." 

"Time travel is funny, Kara. I've never tried to understand it, and I really try not to do it." The silver streaks showing in his hair, Clark, once part time reporter and full time super hero and now a full time farmer, leaned forward, resting his elbows ont eh table top and his chin on his fingers. His word had been final: he was done. Even though Toyman hadn't died, it was too close to that other reality for it to be risked. "Bruce, any plans for reforming the League?" 

"Yeah, Boss, are we going to get our union cards?" Barb was laying on top of a short bench, her legs across Dick's lap. With Bruce back, she knew he and Dick would need some space from each other, but she was pretty sure that she would be able to keep them talking to each other. She and Dick had already talked about living together when he moved out of the Manor again. 

"I don't know if a new League is the right answer now. It's pretty badly busted up." Yawning badly, Wally stretched his arms, letting one land around Kara's shoulders. "GL and Hawkgirl on a galaxy tour, J'onn's incommunicado; what's wrong with the system we have now?" 

"Nothing. A lot of people didn't trust the League because it wasn't open enough. We don't have those limits." Finally speaking after a long time spent staring at the waves, Dick Greyson looked around the patio. 

"'Justice Unlimited', Master Dick?" Alfred looked a little uncomfortable, but both of his bosses had told him to take the evening off, join them as an equal. He had been such a part of the first organization created by Bruce, and then the one created by the next generation, they had wanted him to be a part of this. 

"That sounds like a shady law firm." Bruce smiled, a rare enough sight for most of those at the table. "I don't know if it needs a name." 

Clark looked at his long time friend and ally. Bruce was defiantly different after a year alone with Diana and Savage. He didn't know how he would have faired in the same situation. Clark had listened with horror as they told of how Savage couldn't even be sure of where he had destroyed the League; he didn't know if he could have restrained himself then. His years as a reporter spoke to him inside. "It needs a name, so that people will recognize it. And the League already has airspace rights with various countries. And the insurance policies." 

"Then 'The Justice League Unlimited'? Or 'New Justice'?" 

"That sounds like a soft drink. We'll figure something out." Diana picked up the list of volunteers again, looking at the names and the capability summaries next to each of them. It was a thick stack of paper, despite each page having a dozen names on it. "With this many people, we'll figure something out." 

--- Elsewhen 

Savage sat alone on the rebuilt park bench, looking at the statue he had refurbished. His friends. He was waiting for something, a sign that they had been successful. He knew the odds were good he wouldn't get one. This was just one possible outcome, and it would be his prison for eternity, the last man on Earth. Or maybe there was only one outcome, and they had failed this time as well. Or maybe they hadn't made it. In any case, he wasn't leaving. A thermite charge in the starship had made sure of it. 

As the shattered moon rose, bathing the desert in a ghostly light, he blinked. The the cracks were fading as he watched. Slowly the night became less a blackened maroon, and more of a deep blue. The color of the night sky of his youth, before pollution. Grasses and trees slowly appeared, the scent of night blooms filling his nose. People, he could see them. Young people, old people, lots of them, solidifying. He could hear their voices, like a whisper carried on the breeze, slowly growing louder. The city, the life was returning. 

He looked down at his hands, seeing through them as he his own existence faded. The last look on his face was one of joy and peace, utter rapture. They had succeeded. _Thank you, my friends._

The Moon shown gently on the peaceful circle of gardens and benches, the paths leading to a simple, privative looking gate of titanium. The letters over the gate declared this place "Heroes Park". At the center of the park stood a statue of two ancient heroes, their names lost to the past but for a tiny number of scholars. And anyone who bothered to ask their connection to the network. 

Two of them, standing eternal vigil. He stood looking out over the land, as she looked out over the seas and heavens, ever waiting to be called on. Under their feet were stones. Each stone has a name on it, as did many of the stones that supported other, smaller sculptures, and formed the cobbles of the paths. A stone for the greatest leaders and defenders of Earth. Not all had been born here, but this had been their home, and they had payed the ultimate price for it. Thousands of names. Superman. Wonder Woman. John Stewart, Green Lantern. Shayera Hol-Stewart. Flash. Vandel Savage. 

--- 

**Author's notes:**   
Redemption and restitution take many forms. It could be that the isolation of immortality drove a basically good and brave man mad over mellenia. What could bring him back into the light? 


End file.
